5.29.2011

five, seven, five...

Haiku anyone?

Sunday funday...yes
sun, blue skies, sand, and my love
sending Aloha


I used to write a Haiku every once in a while, for no particular reason the idea would pop into my head, and I'd jot it down...It's been a few years since the last one and today when we got home from the beach, It just came to me out of nowhere, so there you are...A Sunday haiku for your reading pleasure.  I may just have to make this a weekly thing...Sunday haiku sounds kind of pleasing!

Anyhoo, today I enjoyed a sunshine picnic on a breezy North Shore beach with Joe...we read, we napped, we got some salt in our hair and came home for a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

I had some time this morning to finish up the photo-ing and listing of a few more pairs of earrings in the shop.  These earrings feature stacks of vintage coral branch beads that were given to me by my room mate...they were strung on a necklace that was his great grandmothers, who passed away last year at the age of 101!!! They were given to him, and he passed them on to me...what a wonderful gift!

I have treasured them, horded them, and am just beginning to use them in my new designs...For a while I couldn't bring myself to take the necklace apart to use them, they have so much history, and I wanted to respect that and not rush in to making something that I didn't absolutely love...these, I love! Also the idea of them leaving the family was a bit hard to swallow, he assured me that he passed them on to me with his mothers blessing and that they thought it was wonderful that these old beads will be re-born in new designs, and will end up who knows where with their new owners!!! Their color is a bright and true orangey/salmon coral and each branch is different in shape, size and texture making for an organic asymmetrical cluster, and a bright pop of color!

Ok, here's the loot...







Vintage coral with sterling hammered discs








Vintage coral with opaque lemony Jade












Small hoops with vintage coral and textured leaves

 ...And last but certainly not least (in fact these are my favorites at this particular moment).











Delicate hammered leaves with "molten silver" dangles




 This collection is quite pleasing to my eye, I love the vibrant coral color against the hammered and oxidized silver.  I've really fallen for this last pair, and forsee a whole boatload of variations on this style coming in the near future...fun times ahead in the studio this week!!!  You can go HERE and check them out with more detailed descriptions in the shop on ETSY.

In addition to busting out some more of these babies, my goal for the week is to work patiently at soldering my bezels to their base plates, and with the kind words of wisdom from one of my sisters in metal on the interwebs I should be able to call a cease fire to the war that has been waging at my soldering bench!!!!! (many thanks to Laurie for being so generous with her knowledge)


With that, I'll be signing off...I hope you are well rested and refreshed from a fabulous Sunday, and if you happen to be lucky enough to be off work tomorrow for the holiday, then I wish you happy bar-b-ques, camping, beer appreciation, and general merriment of the beginning of summer variety!!

Aloha!
 








Jingly, Jangly, Swingy, Dangly

Earrings of the hooped variety...


Flat Hammered Hoops featuring a graduated stack of fabulously brilliant faceted turquoise beads from New Mexico, I should mention that these turquoise beads have been in my collection since I lived in Albuquerque in 2002 while attending massage school.  Their color is AMAZING...and I love them. You can find them HERE...








 
This pair has a collection of blues in shades from milky blue to bright turquoise...There is one small stack of the same faceted turquoise beads as above, as well as a nugget of milky blue chrysoprase, one tiny round turquoise bead, and a twisted dangle of molten silver.  Available with her sisters, HERE











 ...And finally a similar design in shades of earthy green.  Here we have a mossy/olivey green round chrysoprase, a single round green turquoise, and this time two of these lovely twisted danglers.
These as well have just been offered up in the shop.












We had a busy day enjoying the tropical sunshine, getting sand and salt in our hair, and generally having a lovely time...
These three pairs are what I was able to photograph and list tonight, there will be more coming in the days ahead.  I've got some antique coral branch earrings with hammered silver dangles, as well as a trio of necklaces, one with some of the antique coral, and two that are "straight up" sliver!!!

 Hope you are enjoying relaxing weekend...

Aloha!!!

5.27.2011

Have you ever?

...wanted to scold your metal project for simply not cooperating!!!!  I am in the midst of a war of sorts, the past few times I have approached my soldering bench to work on making bezels nothing will go as planned.  I have formed a few bezels and they refuse to solder to their base plates...this is beyond frustrating, as I've got some beautiful stones to work with and lovely ideas for designs for them. 



I've been practicing my patience, sanding the surfaces, checking for gaps, and nose to the grindstone, trying again...and IT'S NOT WORKING.  It feels like I've never done this before, like I don't know what I'm doing...but I have, and I do.  I suppose this is a good lesson, like most frustrations in the studio, this is giving me some pause to reflect on more than just a difficulty in the engineering of silver and stone...Perhaps I need to up my patience quota, breath deep, take my time, and look closer at the why's and how's, but I can't help feeling defeated.  I am insanely proud of how far I've come in such a short time, mostly being self taught at this craft.  I love each and every creation I have forged, and am trying like hell to not get so frustrated that I give up...but now it's been days since I have made an attempt to work with these bezels, and I hear them calling me from the studio...I need to get over this hump, to conquer my bezel creating demons and push through to a completed project.  Maybe I need to take another class to hone my skills, to get some feedback in person on what I'm doing wrong...but now, all I want to do is scold my materials and tell them they are bad little children, that they are not cooperating and will be put in a time out until they can just do what they are supposed to!!!!  

Ok, feeling a bit better just getting that off my chest...now to sip some greet tea, think peaceful thoughts, and dream up some more designs, I know I'll get it eventually even if it feels like an eternity!
Thanks for listening...

Aloha!


5.24.2011

A short re-cap

Our anniversary staycation took us about a 15 minute drive from the house to a hotel at the beach, but I felt a million miles away.  It was really fun to play tourists...to relax, drink mimosas all morning, and have a weekend all to ourselves.  To say we had a good time would truly be an understatement...this past weekend was heavy on the quality time, sunshine, swimming, cocktails and light on the picture taking/documenting of good times had.  I suppose that's a good thing...the whole point was for us to just be together, enjoy each others company and celebrate US, and the past three years of love, friendship, and good times...

There were a few things that we needed to check off out list...

Mimosas with raspberries...check!


Basketball appreciation...check!  This was one of the unexpected highlights of the weekend, drinking mimosas from the pull-out couch while yelling at the t.v. was much more fun than expected!


Beach strolling at sunset...check!


A fabulous meal somewhere new...check!





Smiles and a bit of tipsy laughter all while enjoying the best sushi in town...check!


This creation was delicious...fresh ginger, lemon juice, tonic and basil!  YUM!




I really had such a fabulous time, the past three years have been amazing and I do believe we did them justice by having so much fun celebrating!  I think this little staycation may have to become a tradition...

Aloha!

5.21.2011

Celebrate good times...

This afternoon Joe and I are headed to a schmancy hotel on the beach for a Celebration of Love Weekend.  Next week we will mark our 3rd anniversary!!!!  Living in Hawaii offers the perfect opportunity for getting away, and being on vacation in your own town...I'm looking forward to having her all to myself for three whole days, walking the beach at night, sipping some Italian bubbly, generally enjoying each others company and celebrating three amazing years of love and happiness!!!!!!





Ok, I'm not going to lie, we are also very excited to get to watch some basketball, there's no t.v. at home, and the Western Conference Finals game 3 is today!  We will be cheering on the Dallas Mavericks and yelling at the t.v. a bit this afternoon, while sipping some adult beverages of the sparkly variety.  While this may not seem the most romantic of activities, I assure you we are plenty excited!




Happy Celebration of Love Weekend...







I know it's cliche but time really does fly when you're having fun, and the past three years have been filled with so much happiness, laughter, adventure, and more fun than I ever thought possible...the way this lady makes me laugh is like no other on the planet!!!  I feel such immense gratitude for our life together, the home we share, and the most amazing love anyone could expect to experience...I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.  I swear, sometimes I feel so damn lucky...thanks bonita, you're the best!!!!






 

Here's to weekends celebrating the love in your life, hold them close and be thankful for all that you share...

Aloha!






5.20.2011

...in progress

I'm getting ready for a trunk show tonight, my fingers are sore from polishing and putting the finishing touches on a handful of earrings and a few necklaces...A preview perhaps?









second generation leaf armor earrings
the originals can be found in the ETSY shop






delicate hammered leaf dangles, super lightweight and swingy!


delicate hammered hoops with ocean inspired dangles

Flat hammered hoops with silver and mixed green dangles


I realize this picture is not nearly as stylish as the others, but the colors are a bit brighter

I am totally in love with these new earrings, I love the mix of colors and textures in the mixed dangle hoops, and the long hammered leaf dangles are going to be really hard to part with if they sell...I'll have to make myself a pair!!  This collection was really fun to make...I have messy pile of beads on my bench that is the aftermath of putting together these pieces, I tend to just spread everything out and look at how the colors mix together.  Most of the inspiration comes from seeing the shapes, sizes and different shades of color mingling on the bench, then I'll grab a few and see how they look together...I have to say, this collection of simple yet unique pieces is very me...meaning I want to keep them all for myself and sport them proudly around town!!!!



I'll be bringing with me all the goodies in the ETSY shop, along with these lovelies and another handful of jewels I have yet to finish polishing and photographing.  Anything that does not sell tonight will be listed in the shop later this weekend.   I'm excited about being able to show my work in a new space, to a whole new group of people!  It always feels good to have worked so hard,and to be so in love with what I have created, and then be able to share it...to put it all out there for the world to see!!! 


Signing off with sore fingers...and sending you some tropical sunshine for your Friday!
Aloha...

5.15.2011

Feelin' some major LOVE!

With feelings of major gratitude for another awesome weekend here in paradise, I thought I'd compile a list of things I'm thankful for...

 1. Date night at the beach with the most wonderful of ladies.


2. Laughter and Love...and a beer picnic on a beautiful starry night.


3. The simple act of being together with the one you love, sitting, talking, watching, and enjoying each others company.


4. Taking time around the table with friends to enjoy food and drink.  Spending time with my favorite people, sharing stories, laughing, and making plans for a beach adventure day!


 5. Friends behind the bar that make up their latest concoction, a delicious blend of Makers Mark, fresh lemon juice, and freshly pressed ginger syrup...YUM!

6. A cocktail at the end of a nice long brunch...something I NEVER do (I'm a serious lightweight when it comes to drinking so an a.m. cocktail is a major event in my world).



Part two of our day consisted of a drive out to one of my favorite beaches on the island Waimanalo ...The water here is unbelievably blue, the sand is like powder, and the view is amazing!  Perfection in sand and sea, this spot is a regular in our "which beach should we go to today" discussions (I know, rough decisions!).  This place is enough to inspire an entire list of gratitude all its own!

7. Talented friends (the best little "sister" a girl could ask for), who can make music anywhere, who bring their infectious smile and positive energy to any situation, who truly are like family after only a short few years of knowing each other, and who I love so much and am so happy to be able to share this place and time with!


Ok, now I'm getting a bit emotional...some days I swear I can physically feel the LOVE...Yesterday was one of those days.  Thanks to my crew for being the best company a girl could ask for, thanks to this place for being such an amazingly beautiful dot on the Earth, and you know what?  Thanks to me for deciding to move here, for breaking out of my box and doing something different, awesome, scary and new...I'm telling you, there is no reward in playing it safe, risks have got to be taken if there is going to be any kind of reward, and let me tell you...living this life is all the reward I will ever need!

Thanks for visiting...Happy Sunday!