Happy Weekend

It's not yet exactly spring, and summer seems far, but they can't stop me from pretending. I do need more outdoor activities to get some fresh air.

Have a happy happy outdoor weekend!

Remember, Oh hello friend's giveaway ends today! Last chance to win a $30 shopping spree. ;D

photo by Smile Banh aka Art Pixie

Cookie Love

I came across this book in a Japanese book store the other day. These really are the cutest cookies ever. I wanted to buy the book, but I don't understand Japanese, so I hesitated.

I'd love to make a set of orange bikini cookie....

Book, Website

Happy Polaroid

We have really bad weather today, I can't see 10 feet outside of my windows, it's a white haze that makes me wants to tuck myself in bed and wait till tomorrow. I wanted to take some pictures with an idea I want to share, but there's not enough light.

Lucky me, I found this set of colorful polaroid by ludwigwest to cheer me up.

Please summer, come back soon.

Shop Update - Survivor Necklace

I've been stuck for a while creatively trying to come up with new things. Well, I am glad to report I am working on various ideas, some need more testing, and thinking through, so I am not updating the blog as frequent as I should be. Also, I am finally kicking myself in the butt to get to the gym everyday to loose some weight and be health, as part of my new year resolution. Exercise can be incredibly time consuming when you have a specific goal in mind.

I just finished this necklace the other day, and I can't wait till I finish all my ideas to show you this because I really like the result.

This was inspired by an magazine article I recently read about cancer survivors. I was deeply touched by their stories, one woman had both of her breasts removed, but didn't get discouraged, instead she went on to compete in a triathlon race.

Everybody who lives through life go through some sort of adversity, be it financial or health problem, instead of doing nothing and feeling depressed, it's important to let love, care and determination to build a mental raft to pull yourself out.

So I made a little sterling silver raft, to symbolize our determination to survive and go through difficult things in life.

It's already listed here. 10% of the earnings will be donated to the Hong Kong Breast Caner Foundation.

I hope you guys like it. ;D

Chau Har Lee

I am quite in awe with Chau Har Lee's architectural heels. Not sure if it's comfortable to wear, but we for centuries, torture our feet for beauty...I have been wearing flats for a while, I feel like it's time to dig out some of my heels.

CLC Giveaway - $30 shopping spree at Oh, hello friend

Congratulations to Aisling for winning last week's papermode earrings.

You've entered my $30 giveaway at oh, hello friend last week, this week, you can win a $30 shopping spree from Oh, hello friend's shop. Danni's jewelry is always sweet and cute and much more affordable then mine, for sure. ;D For $30 you can get 2 or 3 things from her shop, so it's definitely a shopping spree.

If I have to pick a favorite from her shop, I will have to go with the above treasure me necklace. What's your favorite?

Comment to the post with your favorite item from Danni's shop with your email address. (Email links to profile is also accepted)

To increase your chances:

Tweet or RT this giveaway, 1 tweet = 1 extra entry. Include @yellowgoatetsy so I can find you. Easy RT button top right. ;D

Your blog love: Follow this blog = 1 extra entry

This will end Sat Jan 30th, 12PM Hong Kong time. Winner will be picked randomly and notified by email.

Don't forget to follow Danni with her social networking sites below:
Blog|twitter|flickr|facebook|Main site

Happy Weekend

These two kittens are just too cute. They're from fellow etsy seller Erin of Yellowcanoe. Now I want to get my Annie a friend to play with, but I doubt she will welcome a new kitten, because she's enjoying her "master" social ranking in our household. My Queen Annie.....I will take your order...haha

Don't forget, the awesome papermode earrings giveaway ends today!

I heart this - Gemma Correll's Daily Diaries

I don't know how I managed to not post about Gemma Correll's cute print and drawings before.

I am addicted to read her Daily Diaries, and this thing about cold is so spot on...that's how I feel and react these days. ;D

Buy her print here
More Gemma here

DIY Twist Tie Rings

Want to make someone happy in 10 seconds? Here's how, make them a I heart you twist tie ring. Sure, these things won't last forever, but for instant gratifications, why not?


First, buy some pretty twist ties from a supply store (stationary or cake supply is your best bet.)


Find something that's close to your desired ring size or your actual finger, and place it in the middle of twist tie.


Wrap it around and twist it.


Bend the two sides and shape them to a rounder shape with your finger.

Done!

Don't know the ring size of that someone of yours? Just bring the twist ties with you, wait till the special moment, and make the ring with that someone's finger. It's like those 80s romantic movie moments. :P

Sometimes, happiness doesn't need to be expensive, 2 cents and 10 seconds may be all it take. ;D

I heart this - Judson Beaumont fairy tale fruniture

This is too cute, also reminds of Dali's paintings somewhat. ;D More Judson Beaumont furniture here.

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A special giveaway for my shop

If you haven't notice already, the sweet Danni of Oh hello friend is hosting a $30 gift cert giveaway for my shop. Don't miss it. ;D

CLC Giveaway - Square Paper Earrings from Papermode

Congratulations to Lu for winning the lovely headband from Courtney Kaye last week!

This week we have a lovely Papermode earrings for you guys. I really love Camille's shop mixing paper with different materials to make simple and elegant yet unique jewelry pieces. This pair of grey Square Paper Earrings is subtle but still draws attentions. ;D

To win the earrings, comment to the post with your favorite item from Pappermode's shop with your email address. (Email links to profile is also accepted)

To increase your chances:

Tweet or RT this giveaway, 1 tweet = 1 extra entry. Include @yellowgoatetsy so I can find you. Easy RT button top right. ;D

Your blog love: Follow this blog = 1 extra entry

This will end Sat Jan 23rd, 12PM Hong Kong time. Winner will be picked randomly and notified by email.

Happy Weekend

My feline friend enjoys even the rainy days. She manages to find fun in everything, from crumbled paper to ping pong balls. ;D

This is an old video, for some reason I never post it before. It's taken with my cell phone camera, so the quality is a bit low. She's now recovering from her spay operation, so she not too pretty without fur on her stomach. Once she heal, I can start taking more picture and video with her. ;D

Oh, and don't you forget, the beautiful lion button blossom headband giveaways ends today. Last chance ladies! ;D

I heart this - Hayv Kahraman

Great illustrations from Hayv Kahraman. More here.

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Friday Collective - Monochromatic Winter

I can't say I am particular happy with the cold weather lately, it's making me wanting a hiatus as if I am a bear. I am glad I do have heating blankets and my cat Annie who just oozes out warmth. ;D

Photos by:
1. Oo OOo oO, 2. Shorten Winter, 3. .:..'.", 4. soitchy, starlings and snow, 5. Untitled, 6. comes and goes (in waves)

Cute - Illustrated Moleskine journal with window

This Illustrated Moleskine journal with window from Heidi Burton is great for Valentine's Day and yes, believe it or not, it will arrive very soon. This coming Valentine's Day is our first day of Chinese New Year, it's interesting how our magz are telling us how to strategically celebrate both holidays without upsetting anybody. ;D

Frustration

I hate to rant, but I have a case with my shop that I'd like to share. This is the first time I ever encounter this, and I want to let other shop owners know and I know lots of you have online shops and rely on paypal as the middle man.

Apparently, shoppers can buy things, pay by paypal, and then retract the money. First of all, this buyer never ever reply to any of my emails, she bought my priceless necklace, and as usual I sent her emails to confirm her address and such. Once I shipped the necklace, I sent her an email telling her the necklace is on its way. Right the next day, I got an notification email from paypal suggested I got a dispute, that this buyer reversed her payment. Since I always ship registered, I keep all my receipts, I of course filed the shipping proof, and in the mean time, convo this buyer with all the tracking inforamtion, but this person still gives no response. If this is a genuine mistake, any person in that situation would at least reply by now.

Then I googled a bit of my predicament and realized that I had been scammed and there's a slim chance that I can get my money back.

It's not a lot of money, but it deeply frustrates me. Now whenever I am working on my orders, I have this suspicion whether this will be a wasted effort, and someone can steal my hard work and my money, just like that.

I hope you don't ever get this kind of problem, and honestly there's really nothing one can do to protect yourself against it, and with my google result, I know quite a lot of people had been scammed like this. The unfortunate thing is that I went on to give this buyer a positive rating before all this happened, and gosh, I so wish I can reverse that.

The worse bit is that, I can only be frustrated about this, but nothing more that I can do, it's not a lesson learned, so I can wise up and next time don't allow this to happen.

End of rant. I hope things are better for you today.

photo by - reuben -, so truly depicted my feeling this week

Fly Humor by Magnus Muhr

Never did I imagine I'd say cute and flies in the same sentence, but these cartoons with real dead flies by Magnus Muhr are quite clever. When I was small, I went through a strange phase of catching flies with plastic medicine bottles. I don't know why, but it had to be the medicine bottles. Kids do strange things, I can always relate to that.

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Cute - Deer Face Painting

Come across them today, just thought to share. Visit her Flickr, and shop for more.

Garden Collection - H&M

I have to confess that in my wardrobe, there are many many H&M pieces, especially spring and summer outfits. It's really affordable, though quality and long lasting is not their strong suit, but for wearing for a summer or two, you really can't beat the price.

I am digging their Garden Collection, and it's made with sustainable material, so not only there's organic cotton, there are some used bottles somewhere in the outfits too. ;D That red dress is only 39.95USD. I am hoping to see them up close in my local H&M store soon.

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Coco + Igor

We went to watch Coco & Igor this past weekend. Unlike the Audrey Tatou Chanel, this Chanel is the established Coco played by Anna Mouglalis. The movie is about the love affair between her and the famous Russian Composer Igor Stravinsky based on the novel by Chris Greenhalgh.

What I can say is, the set and the costume is amazing to watch. It was set in the 1920s, but you can tell she's not wearing the usual flapper dresses you see in most of the period films. At one point she wore something like a silk flapper dress plus a lose suit jacket in silk with a bit of shoulder padding, that, is really gorgeous.

I keep thinking about the costume and the set decoration after the movie, too bad I can't find the right photos to show you what I am talking about, but if it's showing in your city, it's definitely worth watching.

photo via

CLC Giveaway - Lion Button Blossom Headband by Courtney Kaye

Giveaways are back! First up for 2010 is a fabulous headband from Courtney Kaye. A classic lion buttom with layered fabric flowers, perfect for a night out. ;D

As with last year, to win this headband, comment to the post with your favorite item from Courtney Kaye's shop with your email address. (Email links to profile is also accepted)

To increase your chances:

Tweet or RT this giveaway, 1 tweet = 1 extra entry. Include @yellowgoatetsy so I can find you. Easy RT button top right. ;D

Your blog love: Follow this blog = 1 extra entry

This will end Sat Jan 16th, 12PM Hong Kong time. Winner will be picked randomly and notified by email.

Happy Weekend

The weather here turned really cold these couple of days, so we're going to have hotpot at home today. ;D After we redo my work area, we've reclaimed the dinning table, so we can finally get a cozy meal together at home, last time it happened was when we first moved into this apartment....

Giveaways will resume starting next Monday, get excited!

photo by Todd Klassy

Stunning - Enchanted Dolls by Marina Bychkova

My random adventure today led me to discover Marina Bychkova's beautiful Enchanted Doll. Her new doll Lily is just amazing, it is up for auction on Ebay. This just makes me go wow, and I am not even a doll kind of person. ;D Too bad the clothing is not included, not that I can in anyway afford it.

Paper Inspirations - Eric Joisel

I finally get around to watch "Between the Fold", a documentary about paper folding, origami. The documentary is a wonderful inspiration, it talked about a lot of different aspects of origami from artistic to scientific form and usage.

I was particularly intrigued by Eric Joisel's paper creatures, they are so complex and unique. He folded the basic form with a specific diagram he came up with, and the shaped and sculpted the details. It's really amazing, there's no cut, all from a simple piece of paper. There's only one of each, because he doesn't create the same character twice.

I am itching to borrow some origami books and learn some advance origami. ;D

photo via

I heart this - Rubber band Ring

I am really loving this idea by fellow Jewelry artist Colleen Baran for her Ring A Day project, and her day 2 ring is made by a red rubber band.

I used to make rings from twist ties, simple and recycled, and I found some really pretty twist ties with great color and patterns. It made me really happy, because you can easily make lots of them and send them as little gifts to your friends and it won't cost you nothing.

I am looking forward to see the rings she comes up with in the future 362 days. ;D

A New Year and a New Studio

A belated Happy New Year! I feel really bad for my absence, but I needed the time off for my health, both my husband and I feel much better with lots of rest and hot tea. Colds and flu can be very hard to get over these days.

During this down time, I've managed to remodel my little "studio". I always had problem when people asked me to show them my work space, since we only employed temporary solutions originally, little did I thought that my little jewelry shop will become something I do everyday, as I got more tools and more pieces to make, my work area was out of control and I added things here and there but it's a big sorry mess whenever I looked at it.

We only have limited budget, so everything is from IKEA. I am really happy with the result, and now I can truly feel like I have a studio of sort, and it's much more organized. I was too excited to remove my old sad folding table, I forgot to take a "before" picture. ;p

So, I've finished one of my New Year resolution. Do you have a list of resolutions? I used to hate to make a list, but I learn to set my target lower and tackle things one a time, it does make one feel "accomplish" when you can tick things off. ;D