Christmas Frenzy

I don't have to be disappointed for long when none of my Halloween items sells, because the Christmas shopping frenzy arrived not long after the president election.

Throughout previous 10 months or so that I was here, I sold only 1-2 items per week, but in Mid November till Mid December, I sold 1-2 items everyday! That was not much compared to the best selling etsy shops, but it's a big big difference for me!

This Christmas will be my first on etsy and it's the first time I became part of this gift giving tradition. I love every bit of it! Just thinking that there's someone out there who will be wearing their gifts of my sea glass jewelry is the greatest encouragement for me to keep going. As long as the gift giving mood is there, I realized that any style, color or price will sell, not necessarily of Christmas theme! Here's some of my favorite that have become special Christmas gifts.

Halloween Inspiration?

I have been creating sea glass jewelry with whatever designs that come to mind, never giving a thought about seasons or festivals. Recently, Halloween theme items were featured more than once on etsy frontpage, I just feel the urge to join the fun!
Here is a couple of 'subtle' Halloween items, that you could always wear on any other day of the year. Cute pumpkins dangling on your wrists or eerie green hand creeping up your throat...

Sea Glass Friends

Having my own shop at etsy hadn't just brought me business, but a chance to express myself artistically. Moreoever it brought me friends. Just like the old fashion pen pal, I found myself developing friendship with a wonderful lady and her daughter, far on the other side of the globe in North America.
She found me on etsy and started as a customer. We soon became friends because of our mutual love of the sea, beach and sea glass. We convo to and fro, sharing beach-combing experiences, happy memories and just about anything from life events to a recent walk on the beach! We exchanged gifts of sea glass, seashells and admired each other's handicrafts. We lead totally different lives, have different cultures and our time zones are 10 hours apart, but those were no barrier to us.
When I first joined etsy, I am just hoping to share my work and maybe sell a little, anxious that if my style were acceptable. Now I am truely grateful for all that I've gained from etsy!

If you are coming to Hong Kong, don't miss Cheung Chau!

Waterfront in Central, Hong Kong Island. Ferry pier with your choice of fast ferry (30 mins) or slow ferry (45 mins). High rise in background.

After more than 2 weeks of rainstorms and overcasted skies, there is finally sunny weather. Being a solar powered person, I was immediately full of energy. I geared up, finished my work quickly, and took the afternoon off for a visit to my favorite island.

Just a half hour ferry ride, the high rise and city smog gave way to a village island and smells of the salty sea. What an amazing transformation! Best of all there is no cars here, only bicycles!

Hong Kong Island falling behind you...waterfront of Cheung Chau Island gaining on you...

Stepping off the ferry, I headed immediately for the beach. The streets are lined with stalls selling souvenirs, dried sea food, snacks and swmming gears. A cat relaxing in the shade ignored me, seemed to remind me 'Where did you come from? Slow down! Everyday is a holiday here!' So true!

Stall selling dried sea food Snack stalls lined street leading to the beach

Stalls selling swimming gears, beach in background Cat pretended that it hadn't seen me

Finally! The pleasant sounds of splashing waves, children's laughter and seagulls' screams washed away my weariness. How this wonderful place recharged and refreshed me in my every visit!

If you are coming to Hong Kong, don't miss Cheung Chau!

Victoria harbour waterfront in Central, Hong Kong Island. Ferry piers and ferry, high rise in background

After more than a fortnight of rainstorms and overcasted skies, there is finally sunny weather. Being a 'solar powered' person, I was overjoyed. Fully geared, I finished my work quickly and took the afternoon off to visit my favorite island.

Waterfront and boats in Cheung Chau Island. Stall selling dried sea food .

Paved street leading to the beach.

Stalls selling snacks Stalls selling swimming gears, beach in background

Just half an hour of ferry ride, the high rise and city smog gave way to village houses and salty smell of the sea. The transformation is amazing! Best of all, there is no cars here! Only bicycles!

Heading immediately for my favorite beach, I stopped occasionally at stalls that sell souvenirs, salted fish, snacks and swimming gears. A cat relaxing in the shade glanced at me, seemed to say 'Where did you come from? Slow down! Everyday's a holiday here!'

The pleasant sounds...washing waves, children playing and laughing, seagulls screaming...took away my weariness. How this wonderful place recharged and refreshed me in my every visit!

More to celebrate!

A few weeks ago, I first noticed this wonderful lady who breezed through my etsy shop. She bought many items, came back and bought more, paying immediately every time. What moved me so is that she not only appreciated my crafting skills, she genuinely cared about my safety when I couldn't make it to the post office because of torrential rain. She communicated truthfully and left wonderful feedbacks for me.

Started as a hobbyist, I didn't expect much of etsy at first. In the process, I learned to take good pictures and write attractive descriptions, I learned to promote myself in many different ways. Everything is more than expectations now, having customers wearing my sea glass jewelry in UK, Canada and USA. But all these happened at the buyer-seller level.

Contact with this lovely lady brought us to the personal level: how one person genuinely care about another. This is the single most rewarding experience for me. I am always wholeheartedly thankful to her!

Celebration!

I've just realized that it's exactly 5 months since I started on etsy. I looked back and felt the bittersweet of it all: how I've waited and waited for my first sale, wondering about my prices and worry if I should trade pride for business... Then I started to join the forum everyday and make new friends, gained confidence through their encouragement and complements, and found a niche for myself. What started as a hobby begin to have an audience, and buyers too! What thrills me most is, there are actually people from different parts of the world wearing my sea glass jewelry!

This is my latest creation: 'sea monsters teeth' necklace, just sold today as my 2oth sale. I've got to celebrate!

My favorite beach

I'm just back from beach combing in my favorite beach on an island called Cheung Chau, The name translates as 'long island', but is actually dumbell shaped with a narrow sandy bar joining two islands.

I have spent many afternoons here, at high tide and low tide, sunny or rainy days. Today, I've found rare turquoise, lavender and yellow pieces, a white piece shaped like a boomerang, amongst many other perfectly frosted colorful pieces. The variety of colors and shaped never ceased to amaze and surprise me!

Do stop by this wonderful island when you visit Hong Kong!

Black & White

A couple of days ago when I beachcombed in a new place, I noticed some flat beach stones, and tiny black pebbles. Then I found some white sea glass that never used to catch my eyes. Suddenly, something clicked and I was inspired to make a totally new series of black & white sea glass - beach pebble jewelry.

B&W is so versatile, goes well with almost every outfit. Infinite combinations are possible: bold shapes, delicate patterns, throw in some pearls and semiprecious stones too...

So far, I have made a pair of rings that shaped like eyes, a pair of amazingly well-matched earrings and a pair of black & white bracelets. Satisfied with my new creations, I still have a lot of ideas waiting to be put into reality. All I need is more time. And more sunny weather to take good pictures! Watch out for me on etsy!

Waiting for a sale *sign*

I haven' t got any sale in a week and I'm kinda put off. However I found encouraging comments by joining in the forum.
These are the questions I kept asking myself: Are my items too expensive? Or maybe not everyone believe that I use genuine sea glass? Maybe there are just too many sea glass jewelry to choose from? Than I just remind myself why I join etsy in the first place: to join in a community of artists and to display my creations. Making a sale matters more symbolically than financially. It is a symbol of acceptance which encourages my continual indulgence in artistic creations.
With these resolutions, off I go to work on my new designs...

New sea glass bracelets

I have just listed four new sea glass bracelets on etsy, my newest 'seasons' series.

Each bracelet is made with sea glass in color tones matching the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each one is a labour of love, but worth every minute of my work.

First I have to sort through my sea glass collection, looking for the right colors, size and shapes. Then I drilled a hole in each of them. I think about the design everyday and even dream about them, wondering what chain, crystals and semiprecious stones go best with them.
Then I have to visit the shops and buy the supplies. Then I sit down and get started.

It took me about 2 hours to finish each bracelet, but the time spend for the work behind is much much more.

This is my favorite, what's yours?
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10756916

New sea glass creations

I have made four new bracelets and named them my 'seasons' series.

These are sea glass bracelets with colors representing the four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. These are enhanced with natural crystals and semiprecious stone beads.

Each one is a labour of love indeed, but worth every bit of work I put in it.

First I have to sort my sea glass collection into different colors, size and shapes, looking for sea glass matching the color tones of each season. Then I drilled a hole in each of them and rub a bit of olive oil to bring out their true colors. I think about the designs all the time and even dream about them, wondering what chain, crystals or semiprecious stone go best with each. Then I will have to buy the supplies and get started.

I spend about 2 hours to make each bracelet, but the work behind took much more time!

Here's my favorite, what's yours?

Beach combing

I live in Hong Kong and my favorite beach-combing site for colorful sea glass is a beach on an out-lying island called Cheung Chau. The name meant 'long island' and it is dumbell shaped, with a sandy bar linking two islands. It is a fishing village a century ago, where boats from all over south East Asia stop by for repair, renew supplies and exchange goods. One end of this beach is still littered with very old sea glass of many different colors. Last week I found a tear-drop shaped vaseline sea glass, two pink chunky pieces and a big rounded piece of honey yellow! How I love this place.
I know sea glass hunters don't usually let others know where are their favorite sites for beach-combing but Hong Kong is different. No many people is interested in sea glass and I have the whole beach to myself! But the government is planning to clean up and develop the place for tourism and I worry that my treasure is the government's trash. The more people knowing about this place, the more sea glass would be collected and kept for good before they are forever gone!
So if you collect sea glass and will be stopping by Hong Kong, do drop by Cheung Chau Island and gather much as you can carry before they are all gone!

Handmade genuine sea glass jewelry at affordable price

I am a sea glass jewelry artist, wanting to share my creations with everyone of you out there.

Every piece of my jewelry are made with genuine sea glass that I have personally hand-picked throughout years of beach-combing. The sea glass are merticulously matched in color, size and shape. All my designs are unique and original and most are inspired by nature.

My style varied a lot: from cool simple pieces to intricate patterns. All are created with strong passion for sea glass.

If you like sea glass and are interested in my creations, visit my shop Ecstasea at etsy.com or click http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5520223
Please also visit my website at http://ecstaseaglass@googlepages.com/home

I post new jewelry every week!