The Janis.

Presenting to you, a new type of necklace:

The Janis Illusion Necklace.

The technique used gives it the illusion that the beads are "floating" around your neck.

When making this necklace, a song was playing in my head.

It is the song At Seventeen by Janis Ian.

Never heard of it? Here's Janis singing it live in 1976 (I love my oldies).

Do you remember what it was like being the age of seventeen? Did you experience similar feelings and have similar thoughts as this song describes?

Personally, I just couldn't wait to grow up. I couldn't wait to mature into a woman that could buy herself a nice strand of pearls to wear. :P

This necklace is definitely a tasteful choice, whether you're seventeen, twenty-seven, or beyond.

The floating pearls and multi-faceted bronze and gold beads make this a timeless jewelry piece. 

Make it yours by clicking on the listing here.

Janis, I am so inspired by your voice and your talent. I think you're beautiful regardless of how you felt when you were seventeen. 

For all of you, what were you like when you were seventeen? What kind of thoughts and feelings did you have at that age? Don't be shy to share! :)

For those of you who like this style of necklace, Good news! 

There will be more coming - some multi-stranded while offering you a wide variety of colors!

Earrings now for sale!

They're up on Etsy now!

For earrings, I will be packaging them in nice organza bags like the photos below unless otherwise requested. This is to keep the packaging simple and lighter in weight in order to help you save money on shipping! 

Shipping has never been this cheap! So don't hesitate.. if you like them, now is the time to buy them for yourself, a relative, or a friend. Perfect for any occasion or to simply put a smile on their face!

Get The Elsa Earrings here.

Get The Kelsey Earrings here.

Don't forget that if you LIKE the Facebook page, you can use the coupon code: "FACEBOOK20" for 20% OFF your order of any 2 or more items! This discount expires Aug. 29th, 2014!

If you like these earrings or have any suggestions as to what you'd like to see made, please feel free to leave me a comment! I want to make what you would want to wear!

Facebook Page & Some Good News!

If you haven't already, please check out the Amanda K Design Studio Facebook page! 

If you simply "LIKE" it, you will see a coupon code for 20% off orders of any 2 or more items!

Don't miss out on this limited time offer. Click here for the Facebook page!

Once you have liked us on Facebook, simply enter "FACEBOOK20" at checkout when you buy any 2 items or more! This coupon code will expire on Aug. 29th, 2014. 

Next announcement: An ALL NEW category of Jewelry!

Earrings!!

To be honest, I love love love earrings.. Unfortunately, I have extremely sensitive ears so I can't wear them for more than a couple hours. 

That's why I'm so excited to be creating earrings for all of you to enjoy!

Here's a sneak peek of two sets of earrings that will be for SALE tomorrow!

The Kelsey Earrings.

The Elsa Earrings.

Don't you hate when you buy earrings and they don't come with earrings stoppers? 

Well you don't have to worry about that when you purchase from Amanda K Design Studio.

They come nicely packaged with flat back earrings stoppers.

Want more good news?!

Shipping will be CHEAPER for all earrings! 

So remember to check back tomorrow night for the two new listings of earrings!

The Anita.

I love clothes and accessories that have rope or braiding incorporated into the design. 

I have been dying to make some jewelry with the use of rope. Finally last week I came across some beautiful shiny black rope, perfect for this design I had in mind.

I just love how black & gold go so perfectly together. I don't know if any other two colors would match as well as they do. 

The more I worked on this, the more clearer my muse was.

Anita Mui. 梅艷芳.

She is known as the "Madonna of Asia". Her never-boring costumes and looks were just as infectious as her distinctive voice. She has contributed so much to the Hong Kong entertainment industry through her music and films. Sadly, she passed away in 2003 from cervical cancer.
This is the last song she ever sang on stage.

Anita, we miss you.

Thank you for inspiring me.

So here it is. The necklace I worked diligently on in the middle of the night:

You can now purchase this statement necklace here.

Leave me a comment about what you think of this necklace or share your favorite memory of Anita Mui. I'd love to hear from you!

And if you want lower shipping costs, I still need to get your feedback from the previous blog post.

Shipping Solutions

It's been a busy week over here as I continue to take my design studio further in experimenting with different tools & materials. What I've been meaning to blog about is the issue of shipping.

For those of you who have visited my shop and maybe considered to make a purchase would have already noticed how expensive shipping can be. Yes, I totally agree.
That's why I want to open up this dialogue about shipping so we can work out a solution together.

The purpose of this Etsy shop and my new jewelry design endeavour is to inspire you and give you access to affordable, trendy, and one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. I would absolutely hate if shipping is steering you away from enjoying what I create.

Let me first clearly state: I do not make any money off of the existing shipping costs. Canada Post is known to be expensive and becoming more expensive as time goes on.

So please, if there is a time to leave me feedback, it's now. Let me know what you suggest I could do to lower shipping costs. I have a few ideas in mind that I'd like to share with you.. they will not happen unless I hear from you! I want to know what works best so you can make happy purchases without worry.

Ideas:

1. Change of packaging. As you may have seen in photo in each listing, I neatly package every item in a gift box tied up with string then inserted in a bubble mailer. Though not significantly, this does add to the weight and dimensions of the parcel. Would it help if I used velvet bags or organza bags instead?
I chose this particular type of gift box packaging to protect and beautifully display the item upon its arrival. However, if it impacts shipping, I want to be flexible.

2. New York combined shipments. Those of you who live in New York, I am trying to see what I can do to help lower shipping costs for you. The idea I have is to combine your shipments together and have a face trade in a particular location.

For example, most of you in New York, I know from QHC (Queens Herald Church). If several of you want to order something, you can combine the orders together and I will package them all in one shipment. Then I can either send it to one of you that purchase, or I can ship it to my boyfriend, aka the messenger, to hand out the items at a particular time & place (ex. Sunday at church). This will lower the shipping costs and I will even throw in a personal discount to combined shipments such as these (3 items and above). Just make sure you let me know ahead of time so I can issue the coupon for you.

Leave your comment here or on facebook to let me know what you think of the above. Or if you have better suggestions, don't keep it to yourself! :D

Thanks again for all your support. Even those of you who just "like" on facebook. It's a great encouragement to me!

Milly.

Perhaps not all of you know this, but I once interned at a high-end womenswear company for half a year called Milly.

Even though interning there worked me pretty hard, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I got to touch their beautiful fabrics, help dress models for their photoshoot, and see how design sketches came to life in their sample room.. of course the highlight was getting to sit in during the show at Mercedez Benz Fashion Week.

Milly is vibrant in their color choices and unique prints while still being chic and very wearable. You can check out their stuff here on their site!

This Milly necklace that I created would go perfectly with Milly's design aesthetics. 

It features fun and trendy mint colored glass beads braided with an elegant gold chain.

Trust me, it's a necklace every woman should have. I made extra so I could keep one for myself. ;)

Get yours now here!

By the way, have you seen The Francesca Necklace yet? Those of you who gravitate towards necklaces with birds or birdhouses, this one's for you!

See the listing of this whimsical Francesca necklace here!

Don't forget to use the coupon code WELCOME15 at checkout for orders over $20 to get 15% OFF!

It expires in a week!

Happy Long Weekend to my fellow Canadians!~ Enjoy the sun!