Week word - Charm

This Weekword is 'charm', chosen by the charming Linda Sue . I'm showing a few charm bracelets that I made a while back. Charms are pendants or trinkets which may be just decorative but can also often signify important things in the wearer's life.

Strawberry Smoothie

Here's a girly creation for Valentine's Day - I combined pretty pink and strawberry coloured handmade lampwork (glass) with Swarovski crystals, silver beads and a Karen (Thai hill tribe) silver heart charm to make up this sweet bracelet.


Deep Ocean

The ocean is always a favourite theme. This bracelet has beautiful turquoise and cerulean blue lampwork beads with Bali silver, Swarovski crystal and Karen silver shells and starfish charms.

Dragonfly

I favour the colour green - I wear it a lot, use it in furnishings in my home and of course love my tropical green garden here in KL!

For this full, jangly bracelet I used various green and white pearls, lampwork with semi precious stones, crystal and silver. I added a Karen silver dragonfly and little bell charms.

I think dragonflies are charming creatures and love to feature them in my artwork. In many places in Europe folklore paints them as rather sinister creatures associated with evil and injury, but in East Asia they seem to have a far better reputation and are considered symbols of courage, strength and happiness. Well, wherever you hail from or whichever way you choose to think of them, dragonflies are undeniably beautiful.

To view more Weekword 'charms' please visit Linda Sue's delightful blog, All I Ever Wanted, where you'll find a full list of participants and discover who will be nominated to choose the next Weekword!

Have a great weekend!

Illustration Friday - Fleeting

This week's IF theme is 'fleeting'. I've posted a page from my sketchbook with a couple of illustrations of dragonflies. I'm a big fan of these creatures - so beautiful, but for such a fleeting time. Their adult life lasts around two months only.



Now, here's one that's lasted a while longer! This is a favourite dragonfly image of mine. A fabulous art nouveau, plique a jour brooch created for the actress Sarah Bernhardt by Renee Lalique. Lalique designed many pieces for her during the period 1891-94 .


Finally, here's a photo of a fabulous Hibiscus flower in my garden. This dramatic bloom is also very fleeting - it lasts only 24 hours!

7 things I love

I am indeed honoured to receive this lovely art blog award today from the talented Christine Grove of Sunshine Hill. Thank you Christine! In accordance with the rules I now have to list 7 things I love and pass on the award on if possible. Listing is easy, but tagging is more difficult as there are so many wonderful blogs out there! Anyway, here goes first with a list of my 7 loves (not including my family, friends and cat, as that goes without saying), nor in any special order of preference:

1. I live most of the year in the tropics, but when we visit Europe, I do love to walk in the countryside, particularly in the English Lake District or West Country. The bluebell woods are magnificent in Spring.

2. My lovely Malaysian garden filled with the scent of the gorgeous Frangipani flower which comes in pale pink, dark pink and white. Hmm, heavenly!

3. Japanese hand silk-screened paper. The colours, textures and patterns are so beautiful.

4. The sheer delicacy of a dragonfly's wing. (Click for a closer view).

5. Delicious, icy, crisp, gooseberry/citrus-flavoured New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine.

6. The combination of turquoise and coral in jewellery.

7. Fragrant, spicy Thai food. The photo shows Mieng Kham which is a delicious appetiser - you just place a small spoonful from each bowl (roasted coconut, peanuts, chilis etc) onto a leaf, add some sauce, wrap the leaf and pop into your mouth. Scrumptious!

Now I'm going to pass the award on to the following very creative people. Be sure to check out their inspirational blogs!

Cathy of One Pink Goose
Monica of msc4Art and Books
Andrea of Andrea Joseph's Sketchblog
Cati of El camino a casa
Louisa of Mousetales
Gennine of Gennine's Art Blog
Roberta of A Mouse in the House

P.S. To those I've nominated, please do take the award, but don't feel obliged to keep tagging if you've been tagged recently - I've noticed that many creative bloggers have stacks of awards and imagine that it becomes pretty time consuming to keep listing and tagging!