sasha + max studio

I've been a busy beader -  both the Etsy and Madeit stores are filled with lots of lovelies for your holiday gifts. Shop sasha+max at Etsy Madeit

Eclectica  After 12 months of relentless work pace in the commercial architecture and design arena, and feeling like I was going to have a mental and physical meltdown, I've been on holidays for 2 weeks with 2 to go, the first week was in Tasmania visiting Cradle Mountain (a World Heritage listed park) and the indulgent and quirky MONA art gallery in Hobart (loved it, and look forward to going back), the second week at home which means I've had a lot of great beading time, exercise, and cat time. Have also had time to review older ones and rework to get a more cohesive collection happening (see Ecletica above). I hope you like the pieces. Pop  I'm really loving multiple strand necklaces, and Jade Scott's pendants. Daisy Urchin These beads from Mika at Pinocean are so pretty. Urchin I'm now focusing on my Made it store, as Etsy has been super quiet ..lots of looks, no sales for 12 months so I'm reviewing my direction there (am ...

I've been making these necklaces for a few years and they sell well as gifts for all ages of women.  I always love the variety that the hand made pendants paired with chirimen cord provide. Pendants shown in this post are by the lovely ladies from Chinook and Round Rabbit. All are listed in my Made it Store . Etsy has been so slow that I'm focussing on Made it these days - seems to be lots of looking but not much buying on Etsy. No sales since April. I'm curious to hear if anyone else has found Etsy tailing off. Since the rules of who can sell have expanded its appeal has diluted in my humble view. What are your thoughts?

Yesterday was Australia Day - steamy hot and humid, so a good time to hang in the studio with the air con blowing.  Total contrast to my northern hemisphere family who sent photos of my 2 year old twin nephews in their London backyard playing in the snow having built a snowman. Here are a couple of new pieces whose colours and textures have been inspired by my Australian roots. The second one has one of my favourite birds made by LeAnn of Summers Studio . LeAnn gets so much character into such a simple piece.

Secret Garden Bracelet fern earrings Freckles pink earrings As winter soon draws to a close in the Northern hemisphere, summer in Australia ends February 29. It's been a very wet summer in Sydney - more humid rainy /overcast days than sun. We Sydneysiders hate wet weather - there's been lots of grumbling. So I made some pieces that reflect nature -  the carpet of green and the flowers that describes Sydney after all this rain, and as a preview for the long anticipated spring for our northern friends. These pieces will be added to Sasha + Max stores over the next few days. Mist earrings

Well here we are in 2011.Wishing you all the best of health and good fortune for the year to come, and many thanks to you for reading our little blog last year. Resolutions? Here's my "wish" list: - Get regular exercise, get fit for skiing, work less hours and hopefully by default lose weight and become a svelte nymph. -  Be a better friend - Get out of my own preoccupied head space and make time to write to and call my family and friends more often. - Buy less beads, or sell more jewellery to buy more - not doing too well so far on this one - the Etsy sale was a slow one (like, zero sales..thats the holidays I guess...) and the bead spending this holiday season has outweighed the sales.... but, I say, the Australian dollar vs USD exchange rate is so good.... - Make more jewellery,  and use up the aforementioned potential bead overstock. - Challenge myself design wise with my jewellery design. - Assess and review if Etsy is the best venue for Sasha+Max as ...

A trio of very different styles - sums up my head space this weekend. On a a small hiatus for a few days (after the post holiday soul searching), I've finished a design role last week with one firm (sad to say goodbye to a very nice and talented group), and will be starting a really fabulous new one with old colleagues in a great senior position on Wednesday  - tres exciting! Less beading time ahead though, so I've been a beading maniac this weekend ....think it's going to be a big week.

New  Bird house necklace the name is inspired by the song by They Might Be Giants, "Birdhouse in your Soul" which strangely I can't get out of my head.... My thoughts this weekend have been around a sense of place. My husband and I had lunch with his parents yesterday. They are Chinese Malaysian born, and have been in Australia since 1975. His parents yesterday started sharing some amazing stories regarding their lives in Malayasia during and after the WW2 Japanese occupation, their own parents and how they managed their lives during these time, how they met, why they left Malaysia during difficult political unrest to go to Singapore, and eventually Australia where they built their own home and created new lives yet again. I have been reminded how important it is to retain these stories that form our heritage, that provide us with a sense of who we are, a sense of home and a place to be. We need to remember to take the ask our elders to share their stories. It was a...

Some beautiful ceramic pieces arrived in my mail box over the past few weeks, inspiring a little less colour than my usual palette. These white tiles by Dot of Winchell made me squeal when I opened the package. I've combined them with Seraphim's swirled  white glass beads, and Miss Ficklemedia' s rosette copper hooks. Nancy of Round Rabbit sent me this divine misty pink moth which sits very sweetly with some copper chain, frosted glass and Swarovksi crystal. Very girly girl, I must say! Both pieces are now in the Etsy store. Have a lovely weekend my friends!

I'm so fortunate to meet so many bead artists over the net from all over the world, and get the opportunity to own their amazing beads. I have met so many fabulous creative people, not just bead related, in bloglandia and the internet since beading took hold of my life. The life of a bead addict is a good one. This pair is a simple combination of green concave (or convex depending which way you look at it) ceramic discs by Chinook paired with Mary Ann Caroll's ceramic beads. So simple -  I'm quietly chuffed with the results. New earrings made with some gorgeous hoops from Outwest that go (oh so nicely) with some raku teal lamp work beads by Blue Seraphim. Look at that pattern on those hoops - I'm in love with these babies!. There's one pair in the Etsy shop and one in the Madeit shop.

The rain keeps falling ( I swear we will need that ark I mentioned a couple of weeks ago...have to Google how to build one soon!)  and the temperature is dropping in the southern hemisphere....  we need a surge of colour and pattern to keep happy!.. I like to think of these as little medals to happiness. These Japanese necklaces now in the Etsy and Made it Stores

The rains stopped ( for today)  so we got some photos done.. the daylight for the past 10 days has been really poor. Might need to build the ark tomorrow and load in the cats as the rain is due to return.  Oh well,  a good excuse for more beading creations. Can't wait to play with the new Chinook charms and MaryAnn Carroll beads that arrived this week   These romantic pieces, inspired by the "bunker down" weather,  are now in the Madeit and Etsy shops.......hearts by ExpeditionD and Chinook.     Sasha's Heart Charm Necklace  Envy Necklace Key to your Heart

A busy week trying to get over the flu which has knocked around me and my work colleagues, minimal sleep due to coughing fits...meowing cats..... Thank goodness for weekends so we can catch up on rest! Dinner with my darling at an amazing French restaurant last night called Guillaume at Bennelong , which is in the Sydney Opera House and one of the best, in my humble view.... (if you're ever in Sydney, it is a must visit). A busy weekend lined up, but had time to make some new pieces, the first is a blue version of the Emerald Forest Necklace posted a couple of posts ago, made with Round Rabbit' s wonderfully mottled edge blue pendant, and some large lampwork beads by Indy Jules . The Denim Blues Necklace . Not a very original name, but hey... Next one I called "Crazy Saturday". Mamacita's Bubble pendant is up on my list of all time favourites, seen here with some treated wood and textural chain.

I make jewellery because I have to - it is my obsession and I really love it. However, sales have been very slow in my online shops, like, no sales since January!! Full of creative self doubt, I was having what we Aussies call a "whinge" to one of my girlfriends last Sunday. Low and behold, 4 decent sales this week  - the gods were listening, perhaps? Thank you, dear customers! One piece that sold was my Bluebird bracelet . Here's its pair, the Bluebird Necklace , which I have just added to the Etsy store. The bird is by Summers Studio and it sits so nicely with Mary Ann Carroll's cube beads and some pewter discs. Enjoy your weekend, and be nice to your mother - Sunday is Mother's Day in Australia.

I've made some new items this weekend but am struggling to get photos done. So I thought I would bring you some pieces from my Etsy wish list, all made by  fellow Aussie Etsy sellers. I don't just dream of beads ! Mizu Design's attention to detail is superb - Kylie's wood block prints and glicee works are beautiful - they have a quiet Japanese elegance to them. I've just added two to my apartment  (cat theme for the sashaandmax  workroom/cat den ) but I have my eyes on a few more.  Serenity in green   Mizudesigns Interrobang makes bags from car seat belts - the most amazing colours, and I love this cobalt blue one. Have a look at the red and yellow bags too. Everyday Bag Interrobang Look at these felt bunnies by MoontsyAndFloontsy - so sweet and unique. Crayola Rainbow Bunnies MoontsyAndFloontsy I've already bought some of Inaluxe's mid century modern cards this weekend, but there are plenty more for you to peruse. Spheres Inaluxe ...

So do stringing supplies count ? (shh my etsy friends from whom I have ordered beads during a supposed bead diet .. our little secret ... - it is hard enough giving up nice food, chocolate etc during the festive party season, let alone stay on a bead diet too.... at least beads aren't fattening!) I found a source of affordable Japanese chirimen cord in Japan called Fabric Tales and went (a wee bit) crazy - I have a thing for Japanese prints, have a decent stash of Japanese fabrics, and now will put these gorgeous cords to use in some creations over the holidays. Max, ever the curious cat, seems to have taken a shine to them too as you can see in the photo. Made sale no.2 on my 3 month old Etsy shop  - my Oriental Dreaming necklace which used the Chirimen cord (from another source) and was personal favorite. Sales have been slow but I guess don't mind (not too much.anyway...) as I keep reminding myself that this is my creative time, and that things take time to build. ...

New pieces in very minimal designs - sometimes you just need the simple things in the season of visual overload that is Christmas. Yes I know my style is all over the place, but hey,  that's the fun of it all when you're the shop owner - no rules! Orange Ice Earrings ...Encased beads from Blue Seraphim don't need much more than a touch of sterling silver to finish them off. . Listed in my Etsy store Industry necklace.... Chunky steel chain combined with beautiful teal ceramic connector from Round Rabbit that I have been hoarding for ages,  ebony colored wooden circle, stainless steel wire. Listed in my Etsy store. Hammered jet earrings....  Sculptural sterling silver hooks combined with hammered sterling silver concave circles, and Czech glass free form black  beads. Listed in my Made it store