Fashion Review: Michael Kors Watch

Shen's Michael Kors Watch

For my birthday today, my wonderful husband Ger, got me a fabulous Michael Kors (MK) watch. I have been hankering after one of these fashion statement  pieces for a while now, so I was absolutely over the moon to get one as a present.

While the rose gold version is the one MK is known for, I am chuffed that Ger get me something different, yet in a recognisable MK. I am loving the white ceramic band and gold glitz watch face.

My Michael Kors watch on.

What I love

• Works as a watch!
  It has always bothered me that many watches for women only have the hourly notches with short minute hands. With those watches, it's not easy for me to accurately see the time.
• Date display
  Now you will always know the date, no more confusion.
• Stop watch function
  What more can you ask for?
• Super stylish
  This watch is a fashion statement itself and will style up any outfit!
• Dainty feel
  The big chunky face and band makes your hands and wrist look dainty and small. Love it!

Dislikes

• Weight
  The watch is a bit heavy, but this is to be expected due to it's size and ceramic band. To be honest, this does not bother me. Don't let this put you off as the weight is more a sign of quality! Hm... maybe I should put this in the 'What I Love' section?

Overall, this is a fantastic watch that I love and would recommend to anyone. Arnotts and Fields have a good selection of MK watches, so if you are looking to get one, should probably check them out.

Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Interviewed by Her.ie

Irish Women In Business: Shen Wong Jewellery

Recently I was featured by popular Irish women website, Her.ie. They interviewed me for their section on Irish Women in Business. It was such a buzz to be contacted by such a huge well known website in Ireland.

This interview was quite different to the ones I have done before with Clothes.ie or on air as there was a real focus on my career background and the fashion industry. A very fun meeting all in all!

After I posted about my interview on Facebook, I got a huge response from my fanbase offering supportive and kind words. It always lovely to see the support out there for me. I am spoiled with love! :)

Read my interview here.

Leave a comment to let me know what you think.

Cute Label Alert: Dresses by Jones + Jones

Recently I discovered my new love at a sale rack in TopShop. I love going through sale items, it's the best way to try something new as I will buy anything if it is discounted enough! I am a real bargain queen.

Flicking through the sale rail I discovered several dresses by Jones + Jones. These really caught my eye as they were so cute and feminine. From what I tell after a bit of research on their website, most of their dresses have a net underskirt, giving their dresses a fun and flirty feel.

Feeling rather angelic in my white dress

The dresses are fitted on top, while the skirt 'puffs' out. I felt like a princess walking around with the light skirt swishing around my thighs. 

Feeling petite & girly

  

These dresses look best when teamed with a pair of high heels. They are made to be dramatic!

Before you buy too many, beware! These sweeties take up a lot of room! The underskirt probably takes up about the same space as five normal dresses (I bought four!). I had to move a few things out of my wardrobe to fit them in. I did first try to convince my husband to bin some of his clothes, but he rejected my suggestion *sigh*.

I wish I could have a separate wardrobe just for these dresses as they have an amazing sale on now!

Leave a comment to let me know what you think of Jones + Jones.

Shop here: www.jonesandjonesfashion.com

#FunLoving

New Shen Wong Classic Collection

Working on my new 'Classic' collection. Toning down the range of colours in my jewellery to appeal to a wider audience.

Loving the new collection. 

Let me know what you think? More crazy colours or the classical elegant look? Leave a comment to share your thoughts. 

Pennys Autumn/Winter 2013

While we may have only had a week or two of Summer here in Ireland, some good has come of it. With the way the weather has been going we are ready to wrap up a little more and what perfect timing it is for Pennys to launch their Autumn/Winter 2013 collection!

I am loving their new season selection of jackets. They are so simple, yet elegant. Can't wait to buy them! Once I have them in my possession, I can work on creating some new accessories to match. I think the Fuscia jacket below could particularly benefit from an arm party of bedazzling Swarovski pearls and crystal bracelets.

Once I have the jacket and jewellery to match, I will be posting up pictures.

Where I first heard it: IrishMirror.ie

Re-branding to Shen Wong

After a lot of careful consideration and discussion with friends, I have decided to re-brand my business and blog from Dublin Designer to my own name, Shen Wong. Renaming is always scary, but I think nothing shows more confidence in the products you make than putting your own name to it. I have become so proud of all my creations that I want people to know I made them.

It was a lot of work amending everything, but fortunately/unfortunately for me, I decided to do the change before anyone knew much about the business at all, so there was no audience attachment.

All my Social Media pages had to be changed. Due to ShenWong already been taken on most platforms, I had to add a little extension, but with the character limitation of Twitter, I had to keep it short, so ShenWongCo is the alias I choose.

I also had to rename my Etsy store, frustratingly, ShenWong was taken, so I had to come up with another extension. I couldn't go with ShenWongCo as Etsy is dedicated to handmade crafts, so I didn't want to sound corporate, you have to think very carefully about your audience. In the end, I settled on ShenWongJewellery as it is relevant and can improve my search rankings for 'Jewellery' (some day maybe, there is a lot of competition).

My wonderful cousin helped me create a new logo using my name. I LOVE IT! Leave a comment to let me know what you think about my re-branding or new logo. If you ever had to re-brand, I would love to hear of your experience.

Arm Party Style

Arm party is the latest accessory style now. For those of you that don't know, an arm party is basically when you wear/stack/layer several to many wrist accessories, including bangles, watches etc.

My latest series of bracelets are perfect for stacking. I discovered this by chance. As I completed each bracelet, I added them straight on my wrist to test out, making 100% sure that there are no wires sticking out (test results prove that they are perfect :) ). As I started adding more on, I realised that the more you wear, the better they looked.

Crystal and pearl bracelets are perfect for stacking, especially when using a range of bead sizes and colors.

If you intend to wear as many as I am in the photos or more, make to sure get them in slightly differing length sizes as you want them to fit from the top of your wrist down, rather than all overlapping at one point on your wrist. If your buying from me, just let me know your intentions and I will adjust the sizes accordingly.

Now you know how to get a party started on your arm, go mad! Happy accessorizing!

by Shen Wong

Phone to Match my Jewellery

With all the pearl jewellery that I am creating, it's now time to bling out a phone case to match!

Using some lovely  flat back  pearl cabochons, crystals and a big Hello Kitty styled plastic bow, I am now ready to personalize my phone case to match my personality and jewellery ^_^

How To Do It:

1. Lay out some of the decorations on the phone case to see what way you want it before you put any glue on the case. I spent about 30 minutes shuffling things around so I know what type of pattern I liked.
2. Wipe the case with a cleansing agent to properly to remove oils.
3. Mix a small amount of epoxy glue. This is the best glue as it does not dry for two hours, so you can move and push all the decorations around into place as you go, plus it dries super strong so nothing falls off.
4. Using a toothpick, spread a thin layer of glue on the bottom of the phone case, covering about 25% of the bottom part.
5. Start laying out your gems on the glue and pushing them out to the edge. Gradually add more rows and push them out till they are touching the previous row. You can then add more glue to the surface of the case as you go. DON'T spread the glue all over the case to start, as you will have a hard time avoiding it and getting your hands or dirt stuck on it in the two hour process it takes to deco the case!
6. Continue adding rows until you are half way up the case.
7. Spread some glue on the top half of the case.
8. Place the bow down, careful to not cover the camera hole.
9. Then just add gems around bow. Keep adding rows until the top and bottom half meet.
10.  You will then want to add smaller gems to any gaps you find.
11. Go around the edge, pushing the gems in, making sure everything is packed tightly together.
12. Volila! Now just go to bed and when you wake up, you have a beautiful new case waiting to be used!

TIP: I used a gem pencil to pick up each piece, much easier. 

I am delighted with the outcome. I know the bow is a bit big and impractical, but I much prefer it with than without. Makes the case far more interesting! I would have preferred the black bow to be on the right, as it is always on the right of Hello Kitty, but due to where the camera is located, I had to compromise.

I know the instructions are a bit simple, but if you have any questions, just ask.

Details of the supplier I used are below. You can even buy the gem pencil picker from them too (I don't remember the proper name of it).

My Hello Kitty Pearl Phone Case

I am not making these to sell as I would need to charge about €50 each and I am not too sure there is a market for that here. If I am wrong, please do let me know.

Got all my stuff from a very cheap supplier in Hong kong: www.etsy.com/shop/MiniatureSweet

by Shen Wong

4th of July Inspirations

With the big 4th of July American celebrations coming, I was inspired two create two pieces with the colors of the American flag. To ensure that the pieces can be worn on other occasions, I also used a range of other colors that go well. All the colors of the rainbow have been included and then some more!

Just to make them extra eye catching they are both double layered. This was a particularly time consuming collection as I added wire wrapped detail to each piece of crystal and pearl. I was up until 4 am in the morning finishing the necklace! But it was worth it.

I would love to know what you think.

by Shen Wong

Pearly Gatsby Trend Alert!

It's official, The Great Gatsby is driving us into the high end jewellery stores! Jewellers like Sheils and Tiffany & Co. are enjoying higher than expected sales with the launch of the blockbuster.

Tiffany & Co. launched it's stunning Zigfield Collection back in April. Inspired by the movie the collection is based on Tiffany designs from the 1920s. The jewelry collection heavily features pearls which is characteristic of the era.

I must admit as soon as I saw this stunning collection in Brown Thomas, I couldn't resist and bought myself a pair of earrings for €450!

Jump right on board the fashion trend train and get yourself some pearls. Nothing will make you feel more feminine and elegant than wearing a full set of pearls. For something a bit more modern, yet still classy, check out my Etsy shop. Pearls are the focus of all my pieces.

Watch this space, I will be working on my own Gatsby inspired collection soon.

Ziegfield Collection Pearl Earrings

Still of Carey Mulligan in The Great Gatsby

by Shen Wong

Summer Inspiration

Summer has arrived in Ireland! If you are not from the area it can be hard to understand what a big deal it is here. About two years ago we only had a week of Summer so when the sun is out, it is a big deal! This is why I had to dedicate a collection to Summer.

The sun is blazing into the studio as I flick through all my beads wondering what to use. I settle on some yellow flower crystals; then some white, blue and purple pearls. The colors remind me of buttercups, garden, sun and sea.

I want each bead to dangle separately from a chain, reminiscent of sun beams bouncing off glass bottles while BBQing outdoors. To give a relaxed feel I twist each bead onto the pin in a non uniform way, after all summer is about chilling.

To complete the piece I added a rhinestone encrusted letter charm. It's nice to add a bit of personalisation to a charm bracelet. Voila! It is completed.

I have just added a pair of earrings to this collection. A necklace will be completed soon also.

SUMMER COLLECTION 

Details:
- Size Medium, 18.5 cm long
- 6 Swarovski pearls, 8 mm
- 2 Swarovski flower crystals, 8 mm
- Rhinestone initial charm in silver tone (not Swarovski made or silver plated)

by Shen Wong