Date: May 12, 2012
Time: 10am - 6pm
Where: Hester Street Market, corner of Essex and Hester
http://www.hesterstreetfair.com/

You have to fall in love with this little corner at the outskirt of the heart of fashion in Manhattan. Great accessories, interesting fashion finds, and some yummiest cookies you can find in the city are all here.

Hester Street Fair was taken into Henri Bendel last year and took over the 2/F for its vendors, while UNIQLO camped their mobile cube there for the fall. This past Sat when I was vending there (for the first time, though I've frequented this spot last year all the time as a shopper), Macy has a pop-up shop there - Bar III took Hester Street Fair as its first stop of their nationwide tour of America's best flea markets.

I will be featuring my Whirls and Rose collections there, at an exclusive Hester Street Fair discount.

Selected products from my other shop, Bunnies Can Dream will be available too. Come check my table out. I will be sharing with the very talented Jessica Boehman of Hans-My-Hedgehog again this Sat. And she is debuting her new plush line with some new illustration prints. So don't miss it.

Being in US, I look to the New York Fashion Week for inspiration and reality check. Jewelry usually plays a supporting role and my fear is the more exaggerated the clothing, the less interesting can the jewelry pieces be. Afterall, it accessories instead of fighting for attention.

BUT, I design for everyday women, not the runway. Similar to you, I look at the runway for the big trends, and internalize it so not only can I wear them off the runway (and during the day!), but also keep to my style and call it my own.

Spring 2012 from Elle.com

	Spring/Summer	Fall
Silhouette	40's inspired feminity, esp PEPLUM (also a big trend at the Oscars)
	20's inspired flapper/Daisy Buchanan of The Great Gatsby with drop waist and sequins. Thus long strand necklaces and art deco inspired floral shape jewelry are in	The Iron Lady. Layered, regal, tweeds, shawls, even brocades
	50's Don Draper's women. Floral, sherbet hues/pastels (also seen in the Oscars), even princess-like.	Modern military. This cannot be more different from spring - from softness to strength. But more refined than 2011 military. Almost a hint than literal
	Safari influence. African tribal including stacked large bracelets; bird prints	Global aristocrat/elevated nomad. Ethnic/eastern influenced, exotic and royal, with mbroideries, textile patterns. Blanket coats and even street-look inspired
	Sports couture. Hoodies and mesh etc used in a sophisticated way	Chic sportsman/outdoor preppy/hunting heritage, with fur and feather accents
	Bauhaus. Architectural; Geometry, e.g., asymmetrical shoulder or skirt length; Color blocks	Matrix! Minimalistic using black and leather
Color	White(Everywhere at the Oscars!) and bright orange
	Pastels	Black and burgundy
Other Specifics	Earrings! Especially dangles and statement pieces
	Yellow gold is back!
	Lots of lace, stripes, print on print, knit dresses, tailored short suit, center part hairdo, furturistic accessories and shoes, retro funky sunglasses	Mini-florals, strong collars, ultra cropped jackets and vests that are textural and cool, surprising makeover of suits by mixing prints and unusual fabrics, wrap dresses, gold glam with sequins, bigger belts, statement hats or hairpieces, and elegant long gloves

Fall 2012 from FrontRowMag.com

Show us your take of the trends with what you have in your wardrobe! Post pics on my FB here.

#1 Ring, shown here in black gold plating

#2 Ring, shown here in silver

#2 Ring, shown here in 14K gold plating

I created these in clay models first. The polymer clay is hardened through a baking process, which makes it stable and can be used for moulds.

The polymer clay pieces are then made into silicon moulds. From there, I can get a wax model and continue to work on the piece.

The wax model then needs to be "hollow out" so the final metal piece will not be too heavy. That is why the back of the rings are contoured. Here, they are not a "ring" yet.

The wax model will then be casted into metal and from there, I add on the bands. And that will be polished up and become my prototype for a second mould. I like working with the rods in metal because they can be made "sharper" with the angular twist. The issue is that after the bands are criss-crossed they cannot be resized or reshaped. So the piece has to be made perfect and wax models are NEVER perfect. Coming out from casting they always have to be worked upon more. So the key is to get the wax models as perfect as possible coming out from mould. So the original mould needs to be 200% and that is why I finish the bands at metal stage for all my prototypes.

Here the prototype will then be used to make a final mould. From that mould, I will generate wax models for casting for production moving forward. And this is only for one ring, one size. Imagine each ring will come in size 6-10, this process will need to be repeated 5 times per ring model. Now I have 2 rings, so 10 times. And the process is pretty much the same for bangles...Keep counting :P So seriously, this is my sweat and blood.

Rabbit Artwork by Jeral Tidwell

Being a Chinese, it is only appropriate that I post something for Harlequin&Lionhead to celebrate the new year of Dragon. If you have not read about my personal goals in 2012, you can find it here. 2012 will be a very dear year for Harlequin&Lionhead.

Back in 2010 when I first started the shop with my first collection of sculptural roses, I was hoping to bring a few new collections in 2011 immediately, and possibly expanding the Rose collection to include stone set pieces. But 2011 turned out to be a year less about design but more about marketing and production. It took me a long time to establish a support network and accumulate retail experiences, learned some important but hard lessons on production timeline, and started identifying my suppliers. And inevitably, my focus turned a bit more to the more established shop of mine, Bunnies Can Dream. The only comfort is that I at least managed to launch a new collection, Whirls.




But then I digress. 2012 will be a year for Harlequin&Lionhead. Yes, it will take up hopefully majority of my creative energy. My goals this year for this shop is to give it a more constant retail exposure through wholesale and consignment with retail establishment. I hope it will not only get the name out there, but it will give me the necessary capital to get a sales rep and PR/marketing help for the brand.


And for those who love the Rose line, the long await rose bracelet is finally coming. Click here if you have not read about it yet.

And I have decided to include the big rose as my first haute couture made-to-order jewelry piece. It will most likely be either a corsage bracelet, or a brooch. Or if you are really keen on a heavy (literally) statement necklace, this could be the pendant for you.



The Whirls Collection will continue to grow. The new Whirls #4 (pendant and necklace) was actually available but previously only at my table at the handmade markets. Now it will be available for purchase at my Etsy store. And it will be available in 3 plating options, white gold, rose gold and 14K gold. So you have something to wear with my #2 earrings. I am still working on the Whirls #5 which will be a bangle.



In terms of new collections, I am hopeful that I can introduce a couple pieces of my new Sea Life collection by summer. Right now the designs are mostly for rings. But it is still at an early stage so we will see ;)

And lastly, the new flower collection featuring lilac and other wild flowers is still in my sketch book and needs more trial and error before I can get it to where I want it to be. But it will get here and most likely become my first line that is set with stones. That's a big target for me this year but I am hopeful I can somehow make that happen.

The year of the dragon is a year of vitality. I will need every ounce of my energy and optimism to make things happen this year. This has been a magical journey for me. Thank you for all your support and I look forward to sharing with you more of my creation and I hope you will get a lot of enjoyment out of them.

Taken from here. Wish I know the creator...