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...