Angels,
Are you the creations of God?
Angels,
Are you the messengers of Heaven?

Angels,
Are you the bringers of good news?
Angels,
Are you the desirers of great peace?

Who made you with such beauty?
Who gave such charm?
To whom do you offer your praise?
To the Maker of the heavens and the earth!

I know that God has surrounded me with angels
To protect, guide and grant me peace
Though unseen, unheard and unfathomable
They are there as gifts from Him

How do I know this?
How can I be sure that God cares?
Where is the evidence of God's gift of love?
I turn to my mom!

This poem is written to remember God's love and also for my mum who is still in Singapore on Mothers' Day' 2010.
It was also to celebrate the end of the first year for My Angel Now! which was started as a tribute to my mum.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

New Website Launched!

Yeah! It's finally ready! My new website has been revamped and launched!

Why did I choose to move to webs.com? Let me tell you why and see if you are tempted too.

1. Free and short URL and free webhosting. I am not making huge sales here, so not having to pay for website is great!

2. Easy to use site builder with exactly the function I need. Eg. Navigate to another site directly, and posting of links to other webstore

3. Built-in shopping cart and easy to manage items. Only disadvantage is that free members get to post only one picture.

4. Beautiful and simple template

Hmm... these were reasons enough for me to move out of google sites. Now I have to crawl the website and make sure I change my URL. 

Tell me what you think!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Silly me...

Now, this is what it looks like after chewing away the crimp bead. I love it!



Well, this was the final bracelet... Unfortunately... I wanted to make sure the bracelet could withstand the rough handling if a child were to wear it, so I pulled at the end bead real hard.



Hehe... Of course it came out! Silly me.... Trying the process again and will look into whether hypo-cement is sufficient for the connection. May need two part epoxy instead.... Need some advice on this...

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Tips on using Memory Wire End Beads

Have you ever had the experience of buying a product because the description makes it sound like it will make life easier for you? After getting it though, you feel stupid for not knowing how exactly to use it to your advantage?

That was me tonight... I bought some memory wire end beads a while ago but had not had the time to try it. Or rather, I kinda forgot I had them while I was putting together a pearl bracelet, suitable for babies or toddler as baptism gift. I had made loops to hide the ends of the wire from the wearer before I remembered about my packet of end beads. These end beads have half drilled holes, so can act as a end stopper. This was what I had before using the end beads.



For those who are lost already, memory wire is a very hard coil of metal wire on which you can string pretty stuff on. They have standard size for necklaces, bracelets and rings. It is the kind of jewelry that goes round and round and doesn't need a clasp to put on because you can just uncoil it and it will coil back like a spring. They are called memory wire because they retain their original shape so well. They are so hard a need a pair of specialized memory wire shears.

Here comes the problem. I had put on one end of the end bead and allowed the hypo-cement to cure overnight, and I tested to make sure it was secured enough to string on now. At the end of the stringing though, I thought long and hard about how to put on the other end of the cap. Well, the glue will be too wet to let the rest of the beads go back on the wire. It will definitely be pushed out. I could hold the pearls further down with pliers when applying the cap, but does that mean I have to hold on to it the whole night?!

Haha! I think I can share this tip with fellow crafters out there feeling frustrated with this little thingy. What I did was to put on a 3mm crimp bead as far down as possible to hold the string back! Note that I can comfortably push the rest of the pearls back because the other end was allowed to cure overnight. So no shortcuts!



Now you can apply the end cap and sit back, relax and allow the hypo-cement to do its job. Once it is secured, the crimp bead can be easily chewed off! 



And tada! The bracelet is now securely sealed on both end with no sharp wire poking out! (I will add the picture tomorrow after I remove the crimp bead) No marks, no trace that a crimp bead was ever there.

Enjoy the new technique!

I am being featured again!

What can be happier than being greeted by a "Your product is featured on...." email? Oh my gosh! That's two in less than a month. I am so grateful. I am also grateful for my very first follower, DeeCee, my all time best customer, Yeing Yeing and other new followers, Ellie, Runwaycrochet and Sunflower Rosie and all the 213 fans at Facebook now. Thanks for being here! I am in the process of revamping the website. Please be patient while I deal with 3 exams this month at the same time. If you have any questions, just drop by here or facebook anytime!

Since "Japanese Beauty" is being featured today, let's talk about Tensha beads : ) The first time I saw Tensha Beads was precisely from today's curator, mybeadpoint. I bought the 12mm round milk flower design. My first impression was that it feels like an acrylic bead but looks like a beautiful porcelain bead. I have since been "stuck" with 12mm round Tensha. There are times I did not like it too.

From the look of the bead, it looks like printed transfer onto a plain bead. The print, although pretty with flower, may sometimes look pixelated. The acrylic seal, if not done well, may also cause the print to peel. Therefore it is important for the artist to choose the design carefully. Therefore, I cannot agree that every design is pretty. I am happy to report that the earrings that I had made with Tensha beads usually flies off the shelf.

Now, be sure to look into beautiful Tensha beads collection. Have a wonderful week ahead!