Hi lovelies! We are now in our 14th fabulous giveaway! Today's giveaway is being sponsored by one gorgeous handmade shop owned and ran by a husband and wife tandem, Jeannie and Richard, from Singapore!
Enjoy the interview while we treat you to some luxuriously gorgeous, OOAK handmade jewelleries!
Chainmaille Beaded Earrings in Gold Purple in Indian Summer Hippie Boho Chic Luxe Style
Me: What is JR's art and aesthetics philosophy in jewellery making?
J+R: Simplicity, that which is not to be underestimated. A simple object can sit in a room, quiet but distinct. Distinct yet profound – the journey of how the makers brainstorm upon its existence. That is our aesthetics philosophy – distinct jewelry that can ultimately become the owner’s sentimental
heirloom – from mother to child, or among siblings, or among close friends, equating to the act of love.
We aim to design with the thought making it timeless and to be above the fast changing trends. And fundamentally, we believe that our creations must be responsible - it has to exude positive energy to influence the wearer positively.
Black Triangle Earrings Beaded with Gun Metal Chains Dangle Cleopatra Egyptian Luxe
Me: JR is a husband and wife tandem business. We are just curious, when did you find out about your passion for jewellery making? Before or after you were married?
J+R: We’ve been married for 12 years so its definitely after marriage since we got ourselves into jewelry making this year :D
Purple Anemone Ring Beaded Cluster Statement Ring on Silver Band Ethereal Gummy
Me: How is your typical "creative" day? How does it start? What is your creative process?
J+R: Considering the nature of our “day” job, we constantly need to push our creative cells to churn out concepts after concepts for our clients – it can be very draining – so, everyday is a “creative” day for us LOL! Our day would begin at about 11.00am cause we sleep at 3.30am.
Gold Beaded Chainmaille Cuff Bracelet Cleopatra OOAK Chainmail
The start is the humdrum of morning chores with Richard clearing our two cat’s poo poo, while I clean and feed them, and do a basic sweep of the house. Have our coffee/tea, bath and start work at about 12pm :D Once we start work, there is no stopping until dinner at 8.30pm. After which, its back to work.
So its fortunate that both of us are not only spouses but partners at work as well. Creative process for both our day job and jewelry is pretty much the same. We are either inspired by the objects and colors or be sheer brainstorming. Sometimes, an inspiration appears in our mind’s eye when I am bathing, and when Richard is smoking :) We discuss with each other on whether if its feasible, and work on manifesting it.
Blue Eyes Crystal Bracelet Chainmaille in Southwestern Style
Me: Your Etsy handmade shop is fairly new but basing on the quality of your craftmanship, jewellery making must not be new to you. What made you decide to put up your own Etsy shop?
J+R: The both of us actually started learning bead stitching and chainmailling this year in January. It was a resolution for 2011 that we would make time for some hands on creative therapy. Having to work solely with the computer for the past 10 years, we were desperate to return creating with our
hands.
Purple Ring Beaded Band with Gold Triangle Mauve Cleopatra
Being creative is not new to us but jewelry making was a foreign land we embarked for 2011. I remember I was browsing on Amazon and chanced upon some gorgeous chainmaille jewelry books and with each click, it got me to Rachel-Nelson Smith’s beading book as well.
We were overwhelmed by the beauty of it and bought some of the books, though with no intention of selling handmade jewelry at that point in time. We just thought of it as a great way to quench the yearning of working with our hands.
Chainmaille Beaded Silver Bracelet in Flower Love Knots
Discovering Etsy remains a phantom memory though... but the many talented artists definitely inspired us to start a shop and to give it a shot. We opened an Etsy account in May and only started putting up our items in June, and ever since, we have made so many wonderful friends and amazed by how much everyone would go beyond their norm to learn
new methods to sell online - and most of all, to work together with one united goal.
Now, we are in the midst of transiting our design SOHO to making JeannieRichard the primary.
Grey Ribbon Bracelet Beaded Ribbon Twirl in Gold Silver
Me: Aside from Etsy, where else can we find your handcrafted jewellery items? Do you also sell locally or just online?
J+R: Considering that we just started this, our products are currently only on Etsy.
And with only 24 hours a day (including sleep time), we are investing our efforts on building our brand steadily with Etsy as the first stop.
Building a brand is not a trifle thing and should be expedited with care. We welcome wholesale orders from brick and mortar shops who support handmade wares, and especially
shops that are new cause we love the idea of growing together! However, selling locally is something we are not keen yet.
Bohemian Flower Bracelet Beaded Chainmaille in Purple Indian Summer Hippie Boho Chic Style
Me: You also manage and run a print and web design Small Office/Home Office. Where and how do you find time for both businesses?
J+R: We have to plan our time for JeannieRichard during the night while we focus our energies on our TheRedMAU during the day.
Night works great for us cause we are pretty much owls :)
Our previous occupation in the music industry had us sleeping at 6am and waking at 1pm, so this lifestyle works quite right for us. Furthermore, when its night here, its day in USA – perfect! But we must emphasize that discipline is really a must, we got to make sure we keep to our timings to ensure delivery for both businesses.
So far, JeannieRichard has been much more relaxing for us AND we do prefer to have THAT scale tipped over real soon, hahaha! We find so much joy when we receive messages and feedback from people and our clients of how much they are enjoying the jewelry :D
Gold Love Knot Flower Chainmaille Earrings Classic Heirloom
Me: Is there any advice you can give to anybody who would like to venture to handcrafting and into making it their full-time business?
J+R: Handcrafting is a personal affair that one manifests and share it with the world, and it is important that we be responsible with our art as it impacts/influences people.
There is no hard and fast rules in the school of hard knocks – real life is not written in books like a manual or school book.
We watch, observe, learn. We digest, decide and expedite. We fall, get up, learn and grown.
Love Knots Necklace Baby Small Flowers Chainmaille
It’s not an easy journey but if you believe in what you do so much, nothing can bog you down!
Perseverance, endurance, confidence, adaptability... and most importantly of all – trust in your faith in Him :)
These keywords encompass a whole lot barrage of meaning to everyone out there.
Because we are all unique, all of us have unique experiences, perceptions, impacts and reflections. But with these traits, it can help one achieve what they believe in.
All the best to all of you!
Shalom and stay fashionably chic ;)
XO J+R
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I hope you enjoyed the interview as much as we did! J+R does have lots to offer, not only with the beauty of their pieces but with the craftmanship and quality!
And guess what? One of you will have the chance to have her/his own gorgeous JR item/s!
To know how, check at the end of the post!
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We will be treating you to more luxurious goodness with our next sponsor for today's giveaway.
We all need to unwind every now and then... some would love a good book to lose yourself into, a glass of rich wine while listening to some soothing music or a relaxing bath with some luxurious soap. Hmmm... ^^)
The talent behind this shop is Jennifer who is passionate about what she does. The shop, being her creative outlet, is a proof of how passionate she is with what she does. You are assured of high quality handmade and handcrafted natural bath products.
Here are some of my Bath Bungalow favorites:
Drool-worthy and heavenly-scented soaps such as:
and this coffee-scented soap would really be a treat for coffee lovers like moi! ^^)
100% natural goodness in a bar!
Great for sensitive skin...
Would be a great gift for animal-lovers!
Sugar scrub scented cubes so you can exfoliate luxuriously!
Luxurious Perfume Oil
And why don't you take advantage of the on-going clearance sale in Bath Bungalow for some handcrafted goodness gift for your loved ones this yuletide season?
Glycerin Green Grass Scented Soap Bar
Are you, like me, drooling over the all natural goodness Bath Bungalow has to offer? Well, one lucky TSWL reader will win one $12 GC inclusive of shipping fees.
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For today's giveaway, one of you will win
and
To have the chance of winning this fab prize package, just fill up the Rafflecopter form below making sure you follow each and every instructions.
You have until November 22, 12:01 am (EST) to join. Don't forget to check all of the other giveaways! ^^)
Hugs,
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1 lovely people left a warm message!:
Thank you for the awesome giveaway.
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