Scroll down to read about the song which inspired this collection. Enjoy the pictures!
This collection was inspired by this video. I have reduced my listening to music in order to increase my attention span, last time I could listen for hours and do just basically that...back to the topic :
Once in awhile I still get inspired by songs that I use to listen and memorize by heart. This happens to be one of those inspiration moments when it plays in my head while I made this collection. The song was by Corey Latif Williams (not so well known here but he is talented and I found this song to be good) It is called Promise me. I manage to find it on You Tube with the lyrics.
My interpretation of the lyrics: It is about this dude who has been let down enough times and was fooled he was loved but in truth his "Status" "Money" and "Worldly goods" were the pulling factor. He became kinda insecure and distrustful with the women coming at him. Then one day he met "the one" and this song is him being truthful with her about the state of his heart which to me has a clingy tone while listing out his baggage (we all have that) but he is being sincere and hopes they will get through any obstacles. *On a realistic point promises can only be seen through the passage of time and actions done. Words can just be carbon dioxide after all.*
The recurring themes for were these Complex, Depth, Doubts, Honesty, Sincerity and Time and that is how I named the bracelets.
Overall .....Call me strange, a sucker or both but I found it Inspiring.
Hope you enjoyed my mini story.
Why did I name the Dw33b Collection "Araminta- Minty's Garden"?
Araminata is Greek for the word "Defender" and it is the name of my cat.You might wonder why I named it after a cat. Well, this collection is like her : bright, colorful, sweet, fun and elegant without going too overboard. I like the seemingly simple design which is complex plus she like any cat enjoy playing with the occasional bug (Making the humans flee in a state of panic), get distracted by the sound of bells and circle shapes items that appear foreign (I included these components in the jewelry). The collection is so much like her. I make this collection in memory of her as she recently passed away. I really miss her and wanted to honor her in my own way. This is for you Minty...I shall always remember you.
Who is Araminta a.k.a Minty?
This collection was inspired by one of my cats that has recently passed on. The original name was suppose to be a Bug-full Garden but the way events transpired.... I changed the name of the collection and created other items. Her name was Araminta a.k.a Minty and I truly did adore her.
I usually called her Minty as Araminta is quite a mouthful.
She usually responded to both with a "Yes, May I help you?" look
Araminta's name was a result of flipping through book and it caught my eye hence the name. Her name Araminta is Greek for defender (yes I am repeating myself). She was a bi-color mackerel tabby and was a result of an 'accidental' pregnancy'.
Her father is a cat who I found in my house compound when he was a tiny kitten. He had terrible scabs on his ears or lack for a better word kurap on his ears which eventually went away after applying medicine. He is also a bi-color mackerel tabby and is a domestic short hair (DSH) who I named Aldous (I was re-reading a 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley during that time I found him, so the name stuck) .
Minty's mother is the descendant of the Chinchilla breed as well as a domestic long hair (DLH) owned by older sister.
This is Aldous
(Not really a flattering photo as he was busy sniffing catnip at the time I took the photo)
By the time my sister's $500 cat was pregnant and finally gave birth to 5 extremely cute kittens...it was pretty obvious my cat was the father. I was seriously in trouble during that period as 4 out of the 5 kitty litter were Aldous certified kittens. How could she tell? Well, the 4 of them were DSH and bi-color. It took awhile for my sister to get over that fact, then I got Minty as a gift. She was pretty well behaved as a kitten and spoiled rotten by her mother. She was friendly and got along with the majority of the cats around her. She was a pretty cute kitten and had no problem with me taking photos of her.
Minty's condition
Then one day she got sick with a high fever and when I brought her to a private cat clinic... they told me it was ear mites. They applied that problem to another cat who I brought along who was quite sick as well. I will be honest I was skeptical. I have seen enough cats getting sick and knew it could be worse then that. I accepted it anyway since I was not a professional. It still bugged me in the back of my mind I kept on asking : How could ear mites be the cause of her sickness?
Two days after her getting worse and the death of a dear kitten which I brought to that cat clinic..I decided to phone this private clinic and ask them what could be the problem.
The person who answered the phone kept on asking so many times about whether Minty was vaccinated (she was already vaccinated twice!) and after many minutes it felt like I was the one patiently explaining instead about the issue at hand. I felt like they were trying to place on the blame on me but then again I was not in a good state of mind. In the end, I never got a proper answer from this person... in a way i felt being treated like an idiot. Then I brought her again to that clinic and they told me something which made me shed tears.... the doctor had absolutely NO IDEA what was causing the sickness and he could do nothing for her. He told me she might have blood in her lungs. All he told me was to bring her again the next day and hopefully her high temperature would go down.In his words "They could only treat what they can see"
I felt so powerless on that Thursday last week looking at Minty in the cat carrier and she looked back at me with pain in her eyes. On that same day of that diagnosis which brought me to tears, My older sister then suggested I go to another cat clinic and I rushed there with the help of one of my other sister who lost that dear kitten-as a result of the unknown illness-. I called this clinic before they closed. When I reached there a few minutes away from closing time, the doctor there told me what the problem was.... Minty's kidneys were infected hence inflammed. He explained to me that she was in a serious condition and her odds were not looking good. I still took that gamble anyway to help her by buying medicine. He told me to come back three days later and when I did her temperature actually went down. The doctor was now worried about her drop in temperature and suggested I put hot water containers on her sides to keep her warm. The doctor told me her odds were still not looking good . Sadly she did not survive the day and Minty passed away on 8 May around 6:30pm. She was just six months old... It has not been so long ago and I still am sad thinking of her. However, I knew I tried my best to not wallow in my grief and call me dramatic if you want but her pills are still in my room and I do not have the heart to throw them away.
How to check on your cat's health?
If you own a cat and it is behaving differently from its normal behavior such as not eating, sleeping way more than normal and hiding from you.
It is an indication that they might not be feeling well.
The next thing you can to is bring your cat to the cat clinic as soon as possible to get a checkup for the kitty in question.
I brought my cat to the Pet Link Clinic that is located in Kiulap, Brunei where the doctor diagnose Minty's inflammed kidney. I thank the Doctor there --Dr. Wallace-- for being helpful and being honest regarding Minty's health. *One of sister's friend cat had similar symptoms to Minty's condition and he diagnose correctly in time to save that cat's life*
From now on I am going there if any of my cats are feeling unwell.
With that I end this post learning to live more in the moment, treasuring what little time we have and the word written by Lori Deschene of Tiny Buddha resonating in my head
There are times when the inspiration comes easily, sometimes when it is silent you have to put it in the back of your mind and then it just....comes together.
I have been so busy but that will not stop me from making time for Dw33b.
This collection is a mix of random topics that ranges from the constellations, land and technology. So that is how the name Mix Band came to be. ^_^
Overall I am happy with how they all turned out. For example like Duotone really lives up to its name because of the shades of color and Dark Slate which is quite edgy and seriously I have not seen anything like it. Somehow the beach theme creeps back into this collection and it was unexpected in a good way like the Noctua and Fallow. The use of Hematite beads are a running theme here as well.
In total there are 9 bracelets, two of those bracelet the Cassiopeia and Monochrome bracelet was inspired from a customer. If you are reading this, I say "Thank you!".
The design came first and for the Monochrome when I was showed it to my siblings
- My sister actually said it reminds her of Lady Gaga- (-__-")
That never crossed my mind. She meant is as a complement.
I have been so busy with catching up with people and making plans.
Life is definitely not a job. It should still be taken seriously anyway because we only live once.
To the customers, I recently met up in person...
Thank you for taking interest and choosing Dw33b.
You guys are an awesome bunch of people and of course the people who give me feedback are on that same level. One of these days I might try making something multi-color or at least bright combination. I shall see how it goes.
With that, I end this post with saying the next collection is still in the initial stages and the hint is *Garden*
This collection had a snowball effect. Why snowball? Three separate unrelated things and events which somehow got mushed together (bad way to explain but hey my idea my choice of words : P ) Some people helped me along the way as well.
These three things were the main factors that resulted in this collection
The Beach
Night Sky
New year 2009 & The movie I watched that night
First I have to say thank you to my sister for helping me take photos of this collection for me and thank you to the guy (you know who you are and if you are reading this - You did a good job!) who willingly became the model.
I decided a while back that I wanted to find people who would become models for my jewelry as the feed back I got was positive after starting Dw33b. So it got me thinking that I must strive to become better. I wanted to show how it looked like on people. So not bad at all. Damuan Park is the location where this mini-photo session took place. Damuan is a great place to go for a jog. Why you might ask? I find it quite peaceful. When the weather is great, the view of water, the trees, sculptures done by Asean Artists... just walking there....need I say more (guess I am truly a dweeb then eh?)
Ok going back to the topic of what inspired me...
I was thinking to myself on what would be a new collection and I knew I wanted it to be laid back but still give off a beach feel or a tribal vibe. This will sound so old of me but on the eve of 2010 I was outside my house watching the night sky (basically avoiding technology stuff like my phone and other things like the internet ). I decided that I should welcome the new year with reflecting back quietly by myself and I was thinking back about what I did on the previous new year and then it suddenly hit me that I should try using black pearls (these are deemed the masculine version of the pearls as white pearls are the feminine counterpart). I have very random train of thoughts and I just took it from there. After that making the bracelets, it was easy! Then I reached a mental block of sorts as I wanted to give a name to these bracelets. I kept of thinking of the New Year that I had when I welcomed 2009 and I had no idea what importance it had. Then I had to make a mini recap in my head of what I actually did. It was pretty fun but I shall get to the important part.
It was the last day of December and the year was 2008. I met up with two of my good friends and we just hanged out. Before the new year came, We decided to watch a movie at the Cineplex Mall, Gadong. The first movie was considered a box office hit but seriously...I hated watching that movie. I will not mention its name at all (for your sake as well as mine) ^_^ The movie roughly finished at 10 ish and I insisted to my friends that we should watch another movie as we had two more friends who were just coming over to hang out with us. The next movie was WORTH it. It completely erased the previous movie and was worth double the amount in my heart. My friends and I were talking about it even after walking out of the cinema and were thinking of watching it again. The movie in question was IP Man it is pronounced as Yip Man. A movie that was about the Kung Fu style Wing Chun's grandmaster or more better known as Bruce Lee's Kung Fu Mentor. There were some differences when looking at the historical storyline. However, that does NOT matter though it was an AWESOME movie!!! The fight scenes, the actors and actress were really great. My friends and I barely spoke a full sentence as we watched the whole movie with our eyes never leaving the screen.
One of my favorite scenes:
Never did I imagine a feather duster (a simple household cleaning item) could be used as a fighting weapon to beat up a man who was using a sword.
I wanted to be his student!! (lol)I came out of the movie thinking of taking up that type of Kung Fu. It was AMAZING and I would watch it again.
IP Man is the source of inspiration for this Dw33b Collection “Weapon of Choice”
Freedom
Might
Skill
Integrity
Heart
The collection may be viewed on Dw33b - Online store or you may go directly !here!
IP Man showed me that you do not need to have a weapon to be a hero.
I found the trailer and It is still as amazing as I remembered it!!
This bracelet was originally a key chain but I broke it down and transformed it into a bracelet.
Not bad eh how it turned out?
Edgy Simplicity
Dead cool. That is what I think when I see these bracelets. There is something very appealing about them. I grew up watching cowboy cartoons on Cartoon Network. The main character would usually be boarding a train and then somehow get lost along the way after some misadventures. Tired and thirsty they would hallucinate and then would see a cow skull who would cackle and say "You' ll be sorry ~~~" when they find some water or oasis. Man that is so rare to see these days in cartoons as that concept has been over used .
Dw33b Collection #004 Characteristics of a Tree Group shot
I believe that i did not do justice to this post so I went out on 13-11-2009 and took some pictures. I hope the pictures I took will be able to explain why I got so inspiredto create Dw33b collection #004- Characteristics of a Tree. Made some changes as well within the post. Hopefully it will make sense. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW DID I GET INSPIRED?
Let me ramble a bit on how I became inspired...So how did it came to be? Well as usual a series of events inspired and motivated me. I met a customer who gave me feedback about this blog and we talked for a bit. After talking with him, he asked when would i be making bracelets for guys. I wish to say a big THANK YOU to him, you know who you are. I hope you are reading this post. So i took the initiative and thought '"What would guys wear as bracelets?"'
So I went out to do some research wondering what type of bracelets would look just right on guys.
It was pretty difficult at first as almost all the stores I went to were selling jewelry for the female population and the ones selling men jewelry almost had the same look. After that I tried to look at pictures on what was define as a "guy bracelet" online.
It took awhile for me to get an idea but then it happenedI was driving and saw this tree that stood out to me when I was waiting for the traffic-light to turn green. The sunlight made me notice that tree and somehow it caught my eye. (LOL silly but true)
That suddenly inspired and made me think. I should try a collection base on the Characteristics of a Tree.
Trees are everywhere we look in Brunei and there is something priceless about them. Here are a couple of pictures I took of Trees found in Brunei. This is just a glimpse of what inspired me..
I took this picture in the Jerudong Area near one of the few beaches. I took pictures randomly and only when I really looked at this photo I noticed the branches of one of the tree. It looks like it is trying to touch the sky :P
Seriously, the vegetation in Brunei is so GREEN. Simply amazing. I usually would be the one driving around but this time around I got to sit in the back! ^_^ So I took it as a mini challenge to try and take as many pictures as possible of the passing scenery.
In this picture, so much has changed...If my memory serves me right..a couple of months ago there was a landslide ..no trees...not even grass. Time flies by fast eh?
Seriously grateful to live in Brunei. I appreciate nature a lot. I was using a camera phone. The pictures did not turn out bad. I tried to take as many pictures as I could. It was a lot of fun as I tried to figure out the timing of what I wanted to include in the picture.
Dw33b Collection #003 Cindy and her Rainbow Color Shoes
The collection is base on shoes and colors!! A very strange combination which links up quite nicely (In my head of course : P)
Cinderella the Disney character was on my mind when I saw these shoes at a store collecting dust . They caught my eye and I felt that they could become something I define as dweeby. My goods friends are also part of the inspiration. I showed them some necklaces a couple of months before setting this blog up, They suggested to me to try one-tone color necklaces. I linked up the concept of self worth as well.
Ok let me start with the fact that when I was younger, I watched Cinderella and loved her glass slipper. I loved the concept that she made her dreams a reality with the help of a fairy god mother, farm animals. (I like Gus gus! He was a pretty spunky for a small rodent)
When I list it down, It seems utterly impossible for that sort of thing to happen in real life. Questions start to form in my head:
What are the odds of anyone changing a pumpkin into a form of transportation literally?
How did Cinderella manage to dance while wearing shoes made out of glass?
The relationship could only be taken further when she left her shoe equated to a marriage proposal. In real life, any normal person would think twice..
However, Cinderella did set the bar up high on how a relationship should be defined.
So how does the concept of self worth tie in with what inspired me? Well, while I was making these necklaces I was listening to a song by Karina Pasian. The song is called 16 At war, I like listening to the lyrics of songs and then the music.
In that song, she talks about there are so many challenges faced on whether you should follow what people around you are doing, the value you put on yourself, the conflicting emotions and how loving yourself should be in your TOP priority. I think people can relate to some of the words in the song.
So we will only learn through trial and error. That is how we grow to LOVE the person staring back at us in the mirror in turn building our self worth.Hope I am going to far away from the topic.So how do shoes link up to this post? Well continue reading as I have wrote a little story for this Dw33b Collection #003...
Cindy and her Rainbow Color Shoes
We all heard the story of the girl who left her shoe and got to marry a prince in the end.
This is another story.
Cindy was a girl who dreams like any other girl of meeting someone who loved her for her, then she met someone who "might" have been the one and she left her shoe by accident.
He NEVER looked for her. After all that time wasted, she woke up to the reality she would NOT be defined as the girl who lost her shoe.
After many trial and errors, she found some good shoes along the way to help her walk ahead and be comfortable with who she was as each color represented a lesson.
She knew that love will come knocking right at her door when she loves herself and NOT let others define her.
One day she met someone, he saw the real her and on the day of their wedding day he got her a big closet to keep her shoes . Their life together had just begun.
You can have a piece of that dream in the form of a necklace as well. I present to you Cindy and her Rainbow Color one-of-a-Kind style found here.
My Dw33b Collection has to do with Mermaids. When i was a kid i seriously believed in their existence and then as i grew up my sister corrected me and told me instead of looking like this, they look like this! O well...One can dream ^_^
Freedom to be me
This is one of my favorite among the Dw33b Collection.
The inspiration behind the collection was that I thought of the lovely endless blue sky, the sounds of the crashing waves, the feel of the sand in between one's toes, the broken seashells while looking for a perfect one and the tiny crabs that run across the sand.
Hahahah Those things might be good or bad depending on one's person opinion.
Just looking at the beach makes me think of stories from the storybooks about Mermaids. Do they exist? Maybe or maybe not.
With this collection I imagine these would be the types of colors the female mermaids would wear on days when they watch a storm or swim around with their friends as they look around the world they live in.
Right at this moment the tune from the Little Mermaid Disney is playing in my head
"Under the sea~~~
Under the sea~~
Under the Water~~
hmmmm Fish swim happily and free~~~~"
Hahahaha i think i just got the lyrics wrong..
Sorry Sebastian the Crab! (I am a fan of yours though)
I grew up with three versions of what happened to the mermaid when she fell in love with a prince who lived in a world different than hers literally.
As we all know Ariel the Disney Mermaid stayed on Land with her True Love, They married and even had a child. Almost everyone was happy except for the Witch, her eel helpers and of course the "Crazy" Chef (A classic Character!!). That was the happy ending.
The second one was the true classic where the mermaid jumps into the sea and ends up turning into foam because the prince married anothe girl he had mistaken as the one who saved him. She in a sense "died", I cried my eyes out when i read this one. She still wished him the best in the end.
Finally my personal favorite, The mermaid found her voice with the help of her wonderful sisters and managed to tell the Prince in her own Voice the truth before he could say "yes" to the girl he thought was the one. The Prince followed her back to her Kingdom with the help of a potion where they both still lived ruling the Undersea Kingdom happily together. (They both did not have Fish Tails though)
If you read this far on this post, I copy and pasted this from the Dw33b Online store. Arranged the structure a bit though!
The next part isn't copy and pasted so..... READ ON! : p
This collection really what drove me to create more jewelry with soft colors. The options became endless combination! I was in awe when I finished this collection and I felt a kind of happiness because I made it with my own two hands. I could not believe it myself ans still have to shake my self sometimes. The earrings were the trigger as I made the bracelets after them. I had to redo the earrings a couple of times as they were not to my liking. After starting to do handmade jewelry, I began to gain respect to the people who do this for a living. They are simply amazing people who live, dream and breath their art.
I actually made some pieces for my siblings according to their specifications and tried my best with the limited abilities I have. Will ask them for their permission to take photos and post it here ^_^
This is my very FIRST Dw33b collection that I posted on my online store - Dw33b on 9/6/09 of last year. I was still in University of Brunei Darussalam (graduation was still far away and I was counting the days). I even finally got the nerve to start my blog after my family support.
This Broken City is the work of hard labor and lots of love. I strained my neck as I joined the jump rings one by one with my jewelry equipment. It was and still is WORTH all the effort!
Actually it did not really look like this in the beginning, I had to make some DRASTIC changes to the original design. Sadly, no photo of it but I remember it in my head so clearly and I promise myself NEVER to use the original (or is first draft a better word?)design as it was not safe to wear.
How did I decide it was not safe to wear?
Well ~~ Every design I make especially METAL base ones , I would wear first (I have a prototype of each jewelry : P )before I would put it on Dw33b's store. I believe quality and safety comes in hand in hand when making jewelry.
This is the story as to why I am cautious when it comes to the design
Let me recount the story without going too much into detail. I went out with my sibling and Auntie to Yayasan (Our capital Bandar Seri Begawan shopping area). It was on that day I decided to use the Broken City Bracelet "prototype" ^_^ to see if it would be ok to use on a daily basis. We were on our way home and my sibling was driving and talking to our Auntie. Suddenly my sibling had to slam the brakes to prevent from colliding with the car ahead of us. I was sitting in the back seat and kinda collided with the front chair (Note to self- Wear a seat belt when sitting in the back ) as a result of the sudden brake my arm got a LONG visible scratch on my arm due to the bracelet, nobody was hurt but the bracelet (the first design) was a safety hazard. It took awhile for the scratch to go away and it became a reminder to myself to be careful. So I redesign it and it turned out well.
It took me a couple of weeks and I managed to come up with the final design. After the bracelet, the earrings and necklace came easily.
It may be found here (Will redirect you to Dw33b's Store)
That is all that I shall say regarding for now... I shall be back to post again! Dw33b*
I made these earrings in my spare time using a wire wrapping technique. I enjoy my free time and wish there were more hours in the day but that is not possible is it? I bet if there was more hours in a day I would be wishing for less hours in a day. Human beings can be so fickle sometimes! : P
I personally think of Thailand when I see these earrings. No idea strange eh? I have been there and it was an enjoyable trip. I definitely want to go there again to just take as many photos as possible. *Sigh* I am getting off track eh?
One of my mama's good friend sells natural stones and I was lucky enough to meet up with her. She had some pearls and I straight away said that I would love to purchase it from her. (She is so talented in her craft.) She even taught me some of her techniques when it came to female bracelets.
The cream gold buttons have been with me for a couple of months. I was planning to make them into earrings since day one. I saw them and thought they look so neglected and very eye catching. So I purchased them straight away.
