Monday, May 26, 2014

Children's Lifestyle Accessories @ Adeline's Loft

Many may not be aware, barely 6 months after I ventured into handmade jewelries, I was offered an opportunity to produce girls' accessories for a now defunct local children's boutique, Tien, that was targeted for girls age 4 to 14 year olds. That was back in  2005 and 2006. The main boutique was located at Forum and a subsidiary space was rented at the children's level in Tangs. I had meetings to go to every month to discuss what the boss/designer wanted for her new collections. It was not easy to meet expectations.

Of course, little did I know how tiring and monotonous it was to be mass producing with my single pair of hands. All I was focused on was the given opportunity to show what I can do and the pure exhilaration I was reeling from seeing my handmade creations being showcased in the stores. And these were some of what I made.
Imagine having to make 20-30 pcs per design... even the skin on my fingers were not spared.
After about 6 months later, I decided to stop taking on these work, which took a toll on motherhood. My children were young and I wasn't able to cope with the demand. It was very tough to earn my keeps after the hours I had invested in making the pieces even till late into the night. So I re-focused on why I started out my jewelry making venture in the first place. To enjoy making my own designs and at a pace that I can cope.

One of the positive things that I've learned from this work stint, are the ways I could do to improve the lifespan of children's jewelry and studied on the materials suitable for girls with different ages. 

Here is a guide of how I recommend jewelry creations for girls' age between 3-12 years.

A few samples of my work, some with matching pieces for mums!
Recommended beads
Acrylic, crystals, glass or ceramic beads (it's not heavy it sounds and not glass breakable kind of material.)
You can read up more about bead materials here

Recommended materials
Fabric cord or suede for necklaces.
Suede or rubberized cords for bracelets. 

These materials are especially used for the younger ones, as I consider silver plating/rhodium materials to be sensitive to their young skin. I've taken care to ask how old a child is, before embarking on a suitable design. In this instance, colored fabric cords are used as I do not wish the girls to have allergy outbreaks from wearing my creations.

However, for the older girls (say a gauge of 10 years old and above), there are more options to play around with. By now, there should be an indication somehow if they have sensitive skin and may or may not take to silver plating or brass materials well. So funkier designs, with more choices of beads can be varied in a creation.

Prices
Individual item price range from S$14 onwards - depending on choice of beads and design.
Matching mum and bub necklace set is from S$45 onwards.
Matching mum and bub bracelet set is from S$40 onwards.

Lead Time
Depending on schedule, orders may take 5-14 working days before completion.

Do support and give a 'like' on my Facebook page for updates and inspiration. Queries are best attended to if you send me a private message from my page. Or drop me an email oon.adeline@gmail.com. 

 
Till the next post, have a blessed week!

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