Byzantine Variation

Following on from my last post, this is now the completed necklace using the byzantine triangle. The triangle form the front and the rest of the chain is regular Byzantine. I finished it off with some Iolite stones with some aquamarine rondels on top and bottom of each stone. I was able to get a beautiful Sterling clasp with an Iolite cab from Rebecca at The stranded Bead.






I have now seen another variation of byzantine that forms a cross that will be something to try oneday. I saw it on a wonderful site called www.artthouglorious.com/ You have to go and have a look at Chad and Audrey's fabulous work.
That is it for this update. Keep well and catch you soon!!

Ciao for now!

Practice

Well last week I spent quite some time looking for a tutorial for a Byzantine Triangle weave for chain maille. No luck. Today I managed to find a photo of the weave used in a chain, and thought that I may be able to just wing it. Well it worked and I am pleased to show a photo of it. Unfortunately it is slightly blurry for some reason.



So this week I cut some more rings and get cracking on a necklace incorporating these triangle segments.

Thanks for having a look and catch you later.

Ciao for now!!!

Beading Forum Swap

Over on the Australian Beading Forum we have just had our first Metal/Wire Working Swap. We had a theme of Spring and had to make a pendant for around $5.00.
I made the following pendant for Alison(Pumpkinflower).....


It is made of sterling silver, freshwater pearl and a citrine.

I received from my swap sender, the VERY talented Erin Johnson, the following gorgeous pendant....

Latest Pieces

Just some quick shots of a necklace I have been working on and a pair of earrings that only took me 10 minutes.

At the moment the necklace is a work in progress and the pendant part is temporarily hung on a Sterling Silver Chain. Turquoise and Coral:

Can be worn either side, so have not designated one as front and one as back.







And some turquoise drop earrings. Bit of serendipity with these, I had the cones already and they fitted the drops perfectly.




Thanks for having a look!!

Ciao for now!

Viktoria

IWC Cocktail Party

Last Thursday Rene and I went along to the cocktail party for the launch of the new IWC Da Vinci watches. It was a fabulous night. It was held in the marquee where the current exhibition of Leonardo Da Vinci is being held at Fox Studios. The exhibition is of models made in Florence using Da Vinci's notes, drawings and ideas. Amazing workmanship in the models which are mostly made of wood.

Rene with the Helicopter Model

Rene and Mark


As for the watches....they were beautiful. Here is a link to IWC https://www.iwc.com/index-en.asp and about the Da Vinci watches here....
https://www.iwc.com/messepopup_2007/davinci/index-en.asp.
We met some friends there who also had invitations..Helena, Mark, Shaun, Julian and Christina, Teng and Robyn, Chris and more. We also had the pleasure of having a chat with 5 time World 500cc Motorcycle Champion Mick Doohan who we found out is the Australian brand ambassador for IWC. Great talking to him and being able to not only get an autograph but also a photo.

Rene, Mick Doohan and Me

Our Friend Helena with Mick Doohan


We had a great night despite the cold(only one heater unfortunately). Great canapes and lovely Moet. The real highlight of the evening was being able to hold and admire the new Da Vinci watches.

That is all for this time nice and short. Ciao for now!

Viktoria

Singapore and Hong Kong Holiday Part 2

Well back again with another holiday post. This is edition is about everything except the beads and gems.

We left Sydney at 8am and arrived in Singapore at 2pm(Singapore time). Nice and hot there. We got our transfers to the hotel checked in, relaxed a bit, checked what time our friend Dave was picking us up and then decided to head in to Orchard road. Not much had changed in the 7 years since our last visit, just a few improvements and 1 or 2 new plazas.

Did our initial reconnaisance of some watch shops and discovered that Van Cleef and Arpels had moved in to Ngee Ann Plaza. Yippee!! A new store to visit. After our whirl wind visit to Orchard Road we returned to our hotel to get ready to meet our friend Dave who lives in Singapore. We went for a fantastic Chinese dinner at The Asia Grand. Amazing food! Really delicious bean curd with mushrooms in it and garlic and oyster sauce, So much food but all delicious. After that we went for a coffee in a cafe in Raffles city and had dessert too!

Monday and Tuesday we mainly spent working our way through two pages of watch boutuques that we had to visit and found one or two that we hadn't anticipated. We also looked inlots of other shops too. Tuesday night we went to an American steakhouse called Lawry's which was fantastic, beautifully decorated like in a grand house, and great steaks(good wine too).

Rene and I at Lawry's


Wedesday and Thursday, Rene went to work for a bit and I got time to myself(see post for Part I) and got to explore on my own a bit. Wednesday night we had dinner with Rene's new work colleagues and then Rene and I went to Raffles for a Singapore Sling. YUMMO!!!! They even let you throw the peanut shells on the floor....how decadent!

Rene enjoying a real Sling!


Me at Raffles


Thursday night our friend Dave took us out for another delicious meal followed by cocktail at the Sentosa Resort. We went to Jumbo Seafood over on te east coast and hed real Singapore chilli crab, pepper crab - the crab is cooked in a wok with black pepper, hot but a different heat to the chillies in the chilli crab. Satay chicken and noodles rounded it out. We also had a late afternoon tea at Vivocity of Singapore style tea and toast with an amazing Singapore spread on it.

This was about the best photo we were able to take of Jumbo Seafood

Me at the Sentosa Resort


Friday morning we checked out of the hotel got our transfers to the airport and took the plane to Hong Kong. This was our first time there and it was a great time. We didn't do much. Lots of wondering around, took the funicular(sounds rude doesn't it?) up to Victoria Peak. Went to watch boutiques and jewellery stores. Just did a reconnaisance of the main area really. Had dinner at Hard Rock(yes we got souvenir glasses), Japanese in our hotel for lunch was great, dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, amazing steaks and fantastic service!! Saw a movie(Pirates of The Carribeanpt3) and then after that had afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel. So much food for afternoon tes that we didn't need dinner.
Next time we go to Hong Kong we will definitely be going for longer 3 nights was not enough. Anyway here are a couple of photos from Hong Kong to finish this post off.

Me at Victoria Peak


Me waiting for the Peak Tram


View from the Peak Lookout

Me enjoying a cocktail at Hard Rock Cafe


That is all for now. Catch you soon!

Ciao
Viktoria

A Couple of Little Videos from Hong Kong

Well I have just discovered how to put videos on to my blog(I am rather techno challenged!!!) So here they are. The first one is me on the Star ferry which I still have to email to Mum and Dad.



This next one is one Rene did when we went up Victoria Peak(wasn't it nice of them to name it after me except they got the spelling wrong!LOL)



Here is Rene at the Hard Rock Cafe when we went for a cocktail.



And here I am at the Peninsula Hotel before we had afternoon tea, but after spending some cash!! As you can see I went to the same school of presenting that Belinda Jeffries (From BHG) went to....have to learn not to smile while talking!!LOL I think a bit of lippy might have been a good idea too! At least I wore some jewellery I made myself.



Ciao for now time for bed!!