~ My Very Own Zoolander ~

Introducing the newest and bestest male model~! He's so hot!!!! Shooting a live model is hard. A lot of my pictures came out fuzzy. Oh well, I got 4 ok ones for this photo shoot. I will have to try again next weekend.


I really like how the dragon one looks with his tattoo.

This one is a little fuzzy.


I was surprised that he actually likes this one most. I want him to wear the scorpion though because I am a scorpio hehe.


All necklaces are available at my shop. Click on the pictures to go to the listing. Let me know if you have any tips for taking pictures of jewelry on live models!

~ The Art of Schin Loong ~

I didn't feel like sleeping last night so I stopped by the Etsy chat room to see what's going on. There, I met Schin, the artist behind schin.etsy.com. We chatted briefly and I am completely blown away by her shop.


I just love her style. It's like the love child of old-school romantic manga and Chinese comic.


This one is one of my favorites! I love all the stories behind each lady.

Xi Shi
The king of Yue searched his lands for a beauty, and Xi Shi, the extraordinarily beautiful daughter of a humble tea trader was favored. The king trained her in espionage and court etiquette and sent her, richly dressed, to the prince of the Kingdom of Wu as a tribute gift. The prince was so charmed by her bewitching that he neglected his kingdom. Easily, the King of Yue invaded during the political chaos and overtook the kingdom of Wu. The prince committed suicide and Xi Shi lived happily ever after with her lover, the minister Fan Li.
She's said to be so beautiful that when she was washing silk by the river, the fish was so entranced by her beauty that they forgot to swim and drowned.

Wang Zhaojun
Emperor Yuan used painted portraits to choose his concubines, so naturally, the ladies bribed the court painter to make each of their portraits more flattering. Wang Zhaojun was confident in her beauty and refused to bribe him, and in anger, the artist painted her terribly. One day, the emperor wanted to send one of his court ladies to the Huns as a political bride, and based on her misleading portrait, Wang Zhaojun was chosen. When she sadly turned to go, Emperor Yuan saw her face and realized that she's actually the most beautiful in his court. But it's too late.. as the luckless beauty walked out of the palace into the winter day, a flock of birds flying overhead was so struck by her selflessness and gorgeousness that they forgot to fly and fell to their deaths. Emperor Yuan put the dishonest court painter to death, but Wang Zhaojun never returned to her homeland.

Diaochan
Diaochan, a gentle, loyal maid, helped orchestrate a war between two warlords and ended the rule of a tyrant using her charm. Unfortunately, she was eventually put to death by the tyrant's cronies. The legend goes that one autumn night as she was worshiping the moon, the moon was so awed by her beauty that it hid behind some clouds out of shame.

Yang Guifei
Yang Guifei was a high ranking, privileged beauty, and the Emperor Xuanzong was so in love with her that he neglected his state affairs and indulged in their pleasures, feasting and drinking all day long. The legend goes that she's so beautiful, the spring flowers would refuse to bloom out of embarrassment. Yang Guifei also loves to take baths, and the Emperor built lavish, splendid lakes and baths for her. One day, a rebellion was staged and the Emperor fled the palace with Yang Guifei, but his soldiers refused to go on and demanded the death of the beauty, whom they believe had ruined the country. Towards the end, Yang Guifei killed herself to save the king.

Another favorite of mine. I am a sucker for passion.


And just look at this awesome picture. She said she took this picture behind her house. It looks so magical!


If these images doesn't show how good she is, check out her profile and website. She has great credentials. According to her profile, she attended Illustration training from The One Academy of Communication Design, Malaysia and Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida and her work has been featured in Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Competition 2008 and 2009, ImagineFX, Exotique, Darkstalkers Tribute Art Book and Cosmix II.

Her prices are great too! Just $6 to $15 for prints and ACEOs. Go visit her shop and be amazed!

~ Necklaces for the Tough Guys ~

Whenever I tell my guy friends about my jewelry shop, they ask me if I make stuff for guys. Then, I say, "not yet". Then, they say, "Ok, let me know when you do". Ok guys, that day has come! Now, you have no excuse :) Don't tell me these are girly. My very masculine fiance picked them out.

First, the razor blade. This one has a little bit of bling.


I love Scorpions because...I am a Scorpio :)


Can't go wrong with a cross right?


And every guy needs one of these.

All my necklaces are on silicone cords. I like them because they are light, soft, easy to clean and fun! Of course I can use leather cords or even silver chains. Just ask :)

~ Tips for The New Bejeweled Bliz for Facebook ~

I have been waiting for this for a while! Finally, the new and improved Bejeweled Blitz for Facebook is here!


Look at the UI. I think it's a lot cleaner and less distracting. In the old version, the random backgrounds can be way too distracting! I also like how they "gel" up the user interface and make the gems even shinier. The background is still nice, but it's muted enough to see the gems very clearly.


And a brand new special gem is here for T and L matches! You will get a star gem that breaks all the gems in its column and row when you break it. I love it! The hybercube that you get when you break 5 gems also got a face lift. It looks cool!


Another awesome new feature is the Last Hurrah where all your left over special gems get broken at the same time! So, don't fret if you can't break them as the end is near. In fact, save them! The multiplier gems also become points during the Last Hurrah. It's so exciting to see everything break all at once!


Here, you can see how the last hurrah got me close to 45,000 points!


Here....I just want to show off my high score.


Here are my tips for the game:

1. You can start moving the gems before the voice tell you to start! I usually try to move 1-3 gems before the guy even say "Go".
2. Go after the multipliers like your life depends on it.
3. It's ok to save the special gems since they get activated during Last Hurrah anyway. Of course, you still want to use them whenever you can so you can get multipliers.
4. Play with a nice mouse. Seriously, I just played for an hour and a half on my mac without a mouse. My wrist is a little bit sore and I definitely do better with a mouse.
5. You can move gems even before all the gems finish so NEVER STOP MOVING. This new version shows you your "combo" or speed bonuses above the score. Once you get past something like 20, the red text color will start sliding from right to left, which is like a timer. With every new move you make, the timer fills up. Fill it all the way and go into this crazy mode where every gem you break is like breaking a flame gem that explodes!
6. Always be on the look out for the next move. I know you like to see those gems fall. But, dude, move on. You made a great move. You don't need to watch all the gems explode to get the points.
7. Lastly, be the jewel!

I was only playing to get screenshots for this post :). Now, I must resist and get my work done. Please don't start playing if you have homework or chores to do. It's super addicting!!!

~ I Love Zombieland ~

I went to see this movie over the weekend and I just LOVE it! There are so many funny parts, we were basically laughing through the whole movie. I usually hate scary movies 'cause I get scared easily and there were a few scary parts. But even the scary parts were funny!

I love the rules to survive in Zombieland.
Rule #1: Cardio
Rule #2: Beware of Bathrooms
Rule #3: Seatbelts
Rule #4: Double Tap
...
Rule #37: Enjoy the little things

These rules were incorporated into the movie so well! My favorite is #4. Watch the movie and let me know what your favorite is :)



But, I must warn you, after the movie, we all had urges to run over people or slam our car door into people as we were driving by. If you tend to be violent, make sure you stay away from cars, guns, baseball bats and chain saws after the movie.

~ $45 Gift Certificate Giveaway ~

I know you love my jewelry! And I know you'll love it more if it's free right? Well, here's your chance! Go to the Jewerly Sampler on Etsy team blog and enter my giveaway for $45 gift certificate! All you have to do is go to the giveaway blog post and leave a comment about your favorite item from my shop. Then, at the end of the month, watch for the announcement for the winner!

Of course if you want more entries, there are plenty of opportunities for that. Just check out the blog post for the details!

What can you get for $45 in my shop? Well.....how about a couple sets of sparkly Swarovski crystal stars necklace and earrings? It comes in orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, amethyst, silver shade, golden shadow (champaign), purple haze, chili pepper, rose gold and jet black. With so many choices, I know you can't just get one set.



You can also get these glamorous "Girls' Night Out" earrings that are perfect for all formal and fun occasions.


Or, you can get a bunch of these cute phone charms that will be perfect as stocking stuffers or all the fall birthdays.



Enter the giveaway now!!

~ Detox Phase 3 Completed ~

Sprinkling Clean - Rose - All Natural Complexion Cleansing Powder with Real Rose Essential Oil by LaConchitaNaturals on Etsy

Ok, finally I am done with Phase 3! That means my 9-day treatment is completed. Phase 3 is basically the same as Phase 1. So, no eating for 2 days but tons of water and the cleansing juice 4 times a day. It was going just fine, except the last day when I went up to New York City with my fiance to do some wedding stuff. All that awesome food and I couldn't eat!!!

Dinner time rolls around and my fiance confessed that he cheated on the last day because he was at a work event and there was a lot of food around. So, I said "Screw you" and started eating. Look at all this awesome Japanese food! Who could've resisted?




Did I fail? I don't think so. I am actually very happy with the results. Here are my health stats before I detoxed. I hesitate to put weight on here, but I will :)

Weight: 128lbs
Skin: Extremely dry
Migraines/headaches: headaches every week, migraines about once a month
Asthma: seasonal. My "attacks" last for a few hours and I get them just about every day. Symptoms are neck tension, chest tension, pressure in my lungs when I breathe. My doctor gave me medicine which I took for 4 days with no results.
Energy Level: I felt sluggish a lot. After I eat lunch, I can literally fall asleep in my chair. I had to walk around, talk with people to stay away. And no, I don't eat a heavy lunch. It's a fair amount of veggies too and not a lot of carbs.

So, I did the 9 day treatment and it's been a week since my last day. Here are my stats:
Weight: 117lbs
Skin: Dry
Migraines/headaches: Haven't had a headache since I started detoxing.
Asthma: No issues at all. You may say "well, if it's seasonal, then maybe the season ended." That can be true. But I am just happy it's gone.
Energy Level: I still feel tired sometimes, but it's not like the extreme fatigue I used to feel.

I do feel better so I am continuing on with the 33 day treatment. That means for 15 days, I still take the shakes and juice morning and night and take 1 metabolism pill a day. Then, it's another 9 day detox. I will report results again after my second 9 day detox.

Overall, I am happy with everything. Is it worth the money? Well, it is to me because having asthma and migraines were horrible. Weight wise, I actually wasn't very concerned. Losing weight is just icing on the cake. My mom is also extremely happy with her results. She has own medical issues that I won't disclose here, but this detox did help with those issues.

If you want to find out more, feel free to contact me or Google it. The company is called Isagenix and they produce a lot of health products. Check it out :)