Friday, March 09, 2012

Orchid Collection - Gemstones! & Small Giveaway :)

HHHERRRROOOooo!!!!!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Much of my inspiration comes from the what I encounter everyday, objects, feelings, colors, people.

The "Pretty Orchid" collection has been inspired by two of the He Qi models; Jen and Sam.

Whenever I use florals, I always think of Sam. The simplicity of the single gemstones dangling from the bottom invoke Jen; classy, natural. All beautiful.

I hope you enjoy the earrings.
These are made with some gemstones I have... really.. taken a long time to get as I wanted to get the best quality. They're all natural, handmade, and simply gorgeous.

Pretty Orchid with Light Sapphire Topaz:

Read about Blue Topaz here: http://www.charmsoflight.com/topaz-healing-properties.html

Pretty Orchid with Garnet:

Read about Garnet here: http://www.jewelsforme.com/garnet-powers.asp

Pretty Orchids with Milky Pink Chalcedony:

Ready about chalcedony here: http://www.psychic-revelation.com/reference/a_d/crystals/chalcedony_pink.html

Pretty Orchids with Royal Amethyst:

Read about amethyst here: http://crystalstarwoman.hubpages.com/hub/Crystal-Clear-the-healing-a-magical-properties-of-Amethyst

Pretty Orchids with Citrine:

Read about the properties of Citrine here: http://www.gemselect.com/other-info/citrine-properties.php

And a pair that a coworker suggest I make with quartz briolettes;


I vowed to myself that I was going to make 1 necklace this week, and I am quite happy with this modern piece:

Made with graduating sizes of round Cubic Zirconia.
See Meteor Shower in detail HERE.

I am working on more lockets:

And will soon release the option of initials/monograms/short words

The packaging for the solid perfume sample/locket refill has been changed to be way... way.. cuter :)


As a thank-you for all those who drop by to visit, please leave a comment here with a link to your favorite piece on my website, and you will be entered for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to www.shopheqi.com :)

Have a great weekend, everyone! Any special plans? :)

Lisa
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Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Debut: Sailor Moon Inspired Solid Perfume Lockets and Future Custom Lockets

Many of you have been curious about the Sailor Moon Inspired Perfume Locket I had posted last time/on Twitter/on FB... and it had been so close to releasing, but just needed a few final tweaks to details like the chain, and photography of the aluminum solid perfume inserts.

So here it is:

This is a piece of art that makes me extremely giddy because it brings back so many fond memories and positives feelings.

Again, I want to emphasize that perfume lockets are NOT a new thing; Victorian women wore them all the time, but the more popular method back them was to soak some  cotton in essential oils, and keep it in the locket so that when the locket is worn against the skin, your body heat helps release the fragrance. If you take some time to Google/Etsy, I'm sure that you'll also find many other solid perfume craftresses; but my purposes was not to copy them/take their customers away, but to take a old idea, and play it up with a new concept, and reach a whole new audience.

These can be worn with chains (available separately)-- I have been wearing this to work and have received many curious questions and compliments!


My first experience with solid perfume was at the Whole Earth Festival - UC Davis 2008. I met a craftress who made a myriad of bath and body products from soaps (from scratch, using lye!) to lip balms to solid perfume and lotion bars. I was intrigued. I am sad I did not keep her contact information as those are the people I gravitate toward supporting. Anyway, the idea of creating natural, unique mixtures to inhale all in a cute package just.... thrills me. I started doing research, and stumbled upon various creations of perfume lockets which have further inspired me to create my own.

I am in the process of creating other scents.. of course, using all natural and/or organic/local/wildcrafted ingredients!
You'll have the option of just purchasing the little perfume pans to sample the scents first. These are also the same sizes used to fill the inside recess of the locket:






There are lots of more options and customization to come. Many formulas in the pipeline. If you have any specific blends/scents you'd like to see featured, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Eventually, I am moving towards creating custom monogram, initial and name perfume lockets :)

^ These are in early prototype stage, but I have never seen anything like these... so its exciting to give a sneak peak :)

I need to get back to a working sleeping schedule, so I'm off for the night. I hope everyone has a lovely day tomorrow.

Lisa
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Sunday, March 04, 2012

Of Recent Adventures.. and in the pipeline ;)

Hi all!

The last few weeks have been a whirl wind of experimentation, planning..executing.. messing up, waste... but finally, success!

I have made a few new earring creations since last post...

First off, some more gemstone earrings, this time featuring a pink quartz, AAA grade with the slightest mystic sheen:

The onion briolettes are simply adorable. See them HERE.

I am on a cluster kick again lately, thanks to my housemate who's been feeding the frenzy, and I couldn't help but to make a pair of Bollywood earrings to match the Bollywood necklace:


And while Loki was sleeping in Dad's lap,


I was creating these:

Inspired by the sea:


And by Tiger's Eye (both the actual animal's eye, as well as the natural stone!)
Tiger's Eye is secretly a tribute to Loki, because his eyes are super fierce and look awesome in the daylight.


I am also selling some handmade stickers that I have wayyy to much of on my Etsy Account:

If you are in the need for supplies, check out my store for some destash packaging materials, beads, etc!

And lastly.. something that I have been working on since October 2011 to create:

That's right. Sailor Moon inspired perfume lockets.

Ok guys, please use your imagination with this one, because I know that initially it sounds like a stretch. Perfume lockets are not new, and definitely not this type of locket (though I have worked hard to get my hands on a unique design), but as I fell in love with solid perfumery, I wanted to combine my interests. As many of you already know, Sailor Moon has been a huge muse for me over the years, and continues to me. I wanted to transform my thoughts about her character into a scent. I know, many of you are probably shaking your heads and think I'm nuts. I might be a little nuts. I might be pushing a little. Oh well ;) What's creativity without a bit of crazy and unexpected? Am I making a whole Sailor Moon series of solid perfume lockets? Maybe.

.. so after months of research, market research, designing, failing, sucking, making some really disgusting smelling things, I think I'm almost ready.

These lockets are made by a family owned business in the USA, and the quality is simply breathtaking. When I got my first one to hold in my hand, I was surprised. NOTHING beats the quality of these perfume lockets. They come with a little recess on the inside where you can swap out the aluminum pan with other scents or refills as you need over time. I am designing over perfume locket centerpieces right now, but am not ready to release them. Heck, I couldn't wait to show you these, and I'm not even ready to reveal the exact details of these yet, but thought it might be fun to show you what's in the pipeline.

Pretty cool, hmm? I'm pretty stoked to say that with a huge amount of Googling, I have yet to come across a Sailor Moon inspired Solid Perfume. I'm stoked.

Many consumers do not realize how much time artists put into developing work. Just like how the R&D department of a Biotech company takes a huge amount of money to run to make a product, causing the end product price to be 400-1000% or whatnot of material price, same idea applies across the board to something like what I do. The price of a piece reflects not only the materials, but the time spent on developing it, including all the fails, wasted materials, time spent redesigning, time spent on designing package... well, the list goes on and on. Keep that in mind the next time you're shopping for an artisan good; though I am not a full time artists, I have grown over time to value other handmade artists' goods because I know first hand how hard it can be to make art one's livelihood :)

Thank you all for dropping by and taking part in my little adventures of late.
Please head over to the He Qi website and take a look at all the new goodies there.

If you choose to place an order, I am currently giving away a sample of my new Vanilla Clove lip balm with all purchases!

I hope everyone starts on Monday with bright, positives attitudes.


Until next time,
Lisa
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