A new year. A new beginning.

Rabbit Artwork by Jeral Tidwell

Being a Chinese, it is only appropriate that I post something for Harlequin&Lionhead to celebrate the new year of Dragon. If you have not read about my personal goals in 2012, you can find it here. 2012 will be a very dear year for Harlequin&Lionhead.

Back in 2010 when I first started the shop with my first collection of sculptural roses, I was hoping to bring a few new collections in 2011 immediately, and possibly expanding the Rose collection to include stone set pieces. But 2011 turned out to be a year less about design but more about marketing and production. It took me a long time to establish a support network and accumulate retail experiences, learned some important but hard lessons on production timeline, and started identifying my suppliers. And inevitably, my focus turned a bit more to the more established shop of mine, Bunnies Can Dream. The only comfort is that I at least managed to launch a new collection, Whirls.

And I received my first custom order with the Rose collection. I was commissioned to create a rose cross in sterling silver. The little elongated cross is about 1 inch long, made of 6 roses in wax with a little loop on the top, then cast in sterling silver and oxidized in the middle. I made a little one for myself. It is quite amazing that it took me 20 years and an order from a stranger to bring me back to my Christian root...

But then I digress. 2012 will be a year for Harlequin&Lionhead. Yes, it will take up hopefully majority of my creative energy. My goals this year for this shop is to give it a more constant retail exposure through wholesale and consignment with retail establishment. I hope it will not only get the name out there, but it will give me the necessary capital to get a sales rep and PR/marketing help for the brand.

And for those who love the Rose line, the long await rose bracelet is finally coming. Click here if you have not read about it yet.

And I have decided to include the big rose as my first haute couture made-to-order jewelry piece. It will most likely be either a corsage bracelet, or a brooch. Or if you are really keen on a heavy (literally) statement necklace, this could be the pendant for you.

The Whirls Collection will continue to grow. The new Whirls #4 (pendant and necklace) was actually available but previously only at my table at the handmade markets. Now it will be available for purchase at my Etsy store. And it will be available in 3 plating options, white gold, rose gold and 14K gold. So you have something to wear with my #2 earrings. I am still working on the Whirls #5 which will be a bangle.

In terms of new collections, I am hopeful that I can introduce a couple pieces of my new Sea Life collection by summer. Right now the designs are mostly for rings. But it is still at an early stage so we will see ;)

And lastly, the new flower collection featuring lilac and other wild flowers is still in my sketch book and needs more trial and error before I can get it to where I want it to be. But it will get here and most likely become my first line that is set with stones. That's a big target for me this year but I am hopeful I can somehow make that happen.

The year of the dragon is a year of vitality. I will need every ounce of my energy and optimism to make things happen this year. This has been a magical journey for me. Thank you for all your support and I look forward to sharing with you more of my creation and I hope you will get a lot of enjoyment out of them.

Taken from here. Wish I know the creator...