Tuesday, December 29, 2009

love the polaroids!

but i don't have polaroid film anymore, so now i use poladroid or rollip on the internet! you can make any photo look like it was a polaroid, that's fun!

happy new year! i've got so many fun things up my sleeves, i can't wait for january to begin! working on some new things for the bead gallery - definitely more "start 'n takes" and more dvds! any requests? let me know! i'm working on wire hearts right now!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

luv the holidaze!





love the holidays!
we can't get enough of the christmas spirit!
luv to all of you!! jamie

Friday, December 18, 2009

snowgirl pin


so cute! doreen made these holiday pins with a combo of swarovski christmas trees, a jujubead and a charm! She whipped out 4 of these in one sitting, and a handful of cell phone charms too!

who are her lucky friends?

we have more pin samples in the store - embellish away! They're only a dollar!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

christmas cupcake wellness

this month we have 2 cupcake wellness events, and we just did the first of two, last night! ali took some photos to show you just exactly what goes on at a bead gallery cupcake wellness event!

first you will have a mini reading with stephen (he's behind the screen for your privacy), where he will assist you in choosing a word that is meaningful to you!

next, amanda and i help you select a necklace or bracelet style, and gemstones that resonate with your energy. sometimes, it's a gem to give you a boost in areas that need help, other times it's a stone that will remind you of qualities that you already have!

michelle is busily stamping out customized charms, many with teeny symbols like a heart, leaf, lotus, spiral, or whatever she feels best complements your word!
jo ann is one of my most skilled wire workers, and here she is wrapping the beads onto the jewelry for the finishing touch.

we hope you will wear this home feeling in touch with your spirit, present in the moment and reflective on the quality of your life.

at the very least, you got a darned nice piece o' jewelry!
luv, jamie






Tuesday, December 8, 2009

sandy's teeny charmies


My friend, sandy, made these in Cathy's Teeny Charms class. This was her first experience with art clay, and I was amazed with her pieces. fyi: the ball on the right is her baby bead, made with her leftover clay!

I'm so proud of her! I may even try to steal one - love the leaf charm!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

jeff barber beads


our little jeffie, such a talented beadmaker! just kidding, he's not that little.. i just was flashing back to family circle :) oh, my age is showing!

but he IS a talented beadmaker, and i love his style. not only does he make great beads with an asian flair- he's a very nice and kind man - reminds me of Calvin Orr, our main bead gallery beadmaker and my unofficial stepdad. i digress, thanks to my cough syrup with codeine.

my point is, we have a Jeff Barber trunk show going on at the store, so come and see his beads. touch them, enjoy his artistry, and be in wonder how someone can take glass to the point of miniature art. can't buy one? it's okay, admiration is fine, too!

how long will we have them? until they run out, or until christmas eve-ish.

me n' jeffie

Thursday, December 3, 2009

2 things i love


.. michelle's off the cuff jewelry and my cutie pie husband, jason!

i love how michelle whips up stuff at the end of the day, or when a customer has a request for a new design. me? i want to sit down and stare at nothing. hee hee. michelle? she'll make some new jewelry samples for the store! everyone, make sure to say "thank you" for me, in case I don't tell her enough :)

Monday, November 30, 2009

it's my birthday!


It's my birthday, and i'm about to eat a dutch baby! its' a german pancake that jason is cooking in the oven for my bday present, yay! i can smell the baby cookin' and it's yummy!

cough update: fair to middlin' not as bad as a few days ago, but still not exercise ready. i think i'll walk around the block and check out my lungs.

have a great day! i'm gonna bead!


Saturday, November 28, 2009

snowie, the snowman

right before we left work tonight, michelle whipped up this cutie with swarovski crystal pearls, a cute crystal black hat and a tiny beaded scarf! he's about as tall as my thumbnail and ready for some warm Hawaiian sunshine!

we have a limited supply of mr. snowie, so if you want me to hold you a kit ($7), email me and i'll put one aside!

ho ho ho! jamie

Friday, November 27, 2009

who's that masked family?





happy holidays! from my family to yours :)
feel free to send me YOUR family pics!!!


Monday, November 23, 2009

fusing fine silver




these earrings were made by fusing fine silver wire into rings! we've been fusing for a couple of years now, and i forget that it's fairly new to the beading/jewelry world :)

basically, fusing fine silver wire in the easiest of terms is: melting pure silver with a tiny torch. that's it! it's easier and cleaner than soldering, and you need less experience, tools and supplies to get the job done.

why would you want to melt fine silver? then you can make your own headpins, make different sized closed rings, finger rings, bangle bracelets and more!

amanda and jason have been teaching fusing for years, and both have been instructed by iris sandkuhler (the woman who basically made fusing accessible, and then popular throughout the beadworld), and both them can attest to the "d0-ability" factor of fusing.

even more fun after the fusing? the shaping and hammering!
still have the sniffles.....going to lie down and rest :) bye bye, jamie

Friday, November 20, 2009

small baby face!


i'm at home with the sniffles today. don't want to share that not-so-goodness with my friends! well, i'm planning to get it out of my system and enjoy the rest of the holidays.

i just wanted to post two things i liked.. cissy's small face and michelle's pretty pretty earrings!
just two things to brighten your day.

gonna eat and take a nap and cough into a tissue.
aloha! jamie

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

sherrie is button happy!



love these button bracelets! as a button collector, i was stumped how to enjoy them out of the plastic iris containers they currently live in.

sherrie found this pattern in a magazine and whipped out versions that she modified, and they are beautiful! happily i recognize many of the buttons and am inspired to wear my collection in the same way!!

just a matter of time....

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

1, 2, 3 breathe!


whipped out this bracelet last night.. was a stamping machine! haven't stamped in MONTHS, so it took a while to get into the groove, and once i did, it was fun!!

we will be having a metal stamp rental program coming soon (michelle working on it), so that you don't have to invest thousands to have access to a whole bunch of fonts!

just thinking about stamping the silver discs.....so much fun - and i picked words to remind me of what to do, in order to be present, throughout the day. I was SOOOO happy when i linked it together with the gold jumprings and it fit me JUST right - sigh........

have a great day, and remember to breathe. luv ya, high five!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

furlough friday!


Teacher Alert! if you are a teacher, or have teacher friends, tell them to come to the bead gallery for Oct. 30th furlough friday! Ali and I are going to do a <$10 make and take, and teach you how to kumihimo (japanese braid) a very pretty cord. We'll be making bracelets, but you can always take what you learn to make lanyards, cell phone cords, necklaces and more!

Stop in from 12 -4pm for our furlough friday project!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

oh no frankenstein!

It was a gift making weekend! First i made my mom the citrine bracelet on the left.. then i was inspired to wire wrap my tiny citrines on the right. of course i had to add a big chunk to make it all worthwhile! I might keep that one..

Then i unearthed some black spinel and white topaz, so i HAD to string those in their entirety - to keep it full-blast powerpuffed with grounding and manifesting energies. I find that if the gems are beautiful on their own, then you don't need to add a thing!
Finally, i made jason a sterling silver bracelet, with the antiqued ss hollow shapes and thai silver in between! I've had those beads on my desk for about 3 years now, just waiting for their day. I also wrapped him a frankie that i bought from jujubeadz - you'll see him wearing it this week on my "gangsta" gold rope chain. so 80's! gooooo, Jason!

Monday, October 26, 2009

lotus

dana made this in her custom crochet class with michelle last week.. so pretty! i love the look, especially the lotus charm.

The lotus is quite significant in it's symbolism of rising from the muddy waters, untouched by its impure beginnings... able to overcome great difficulties and awakening to your spiritual life.

no wonder michelle and i were drawn to carry many lotus charms in the store - we should all wear it as a reminder of our beauty that lies within and as a symbol of the strength of our spirit!



Thursday, October 22, 2009

gone fishing.....

I feel like I've been gone so long! It's been busy at the store with the cupcake wellness nite, and LOTS of custom classes! Seems like a lot of our beady friends are enjoying our one-to-one custom classes, so we've been busier throughout the day teaching ALL kinds of stuff!

it's been fun because we get to know our students in a very friendly setting, and connect on more than just a teacher-student, "let me give you info and send you on your way" kind of way.

In retrospect, this is what I've always wanted. To make new friends, and bead with them! pretty simple. And somewhere along the way, when beading got super popular, that became impossible - not enough hours in the day, and too many people. With the sluggish economy, a silver lining has emerged! We definitely have increased our time with each person, getting to know them beyond a retail relationship, so it has been a dream come true. :)

enjoy Bess's beautiful necklace and earring set with london blue topaz and champagne quartz above! i loved how simple and beautiful it was (she gave it as a gift), and i was like, I WANT ONE! so now i have one. it's a photo, but it'll do.. until i make a set for me!



Friday, October 16, 2009

fatima earrings

this morning i woke up really early (it was still dark!) and i was still wanting to sleep more.. BUT for some reason I really want to wear THESE particular wedding cake earrings today, and it was stuck in my head! So since I couldn't get back to sleep, I meditated, climbed out of bed, and decided to make more earrings for a Shriner's fundraiser at Aloha Tower tonight.

amazingly, to me, i will be there doing lomilomi to raise money for Shriner's. Wish me luck and good will, I'm needing it!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

saturday nite post!

if you can come to cupcake wellness nite on Tuesday, Oct. 20th, here's what we are making!


••••••••

i'm at lomilomi class this weekend, working on my rubs :)
in the meantime, cerise is carefully watching the store for me.


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

cupcake wellness necklace

this is one of the necklace styles you can have made for you at cupcake wellness night! This is my word stamped in sterling silver, with a handmade silver ring around it, and white topaz gems. You can have one designed for you on Tuesday, Oct. 20th from 4 to 8pm. give me a holla!

if you want more info.... or just a random HOLLA! is fine too :)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

happy hearts luv mochi!



if you didn't know - michelle's sister is a mochi maker! Renee makes handmade mochi - happyheartsmochi.com in delicious flavors like peanut butter, haupia, strawberry in sweet red bean, and my ultimate of holiday flavors: pumpkin!! AND- if you ever need a quick pick-up place, we have a "system", where she brings it to the store and you can pick it up here (of course, minus the one piece i will eat). just kidding!

anyhoo, michelle's talents aren't only in jewelry making - look what she did using swarovski crystals on the custom decorated favor boxes!

renee's mochi is tasty. i luv it! i'm ordering a batch for my friend's baby's 1st bday this month, just so that i can have one. yep, it's good to be in charge!

hey renee, if you read this... it's pumpkin time!!!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

val's heart


val worked with larger gauge wire for the first time: shaping, hammering and binding, and she made this in wire play day. I was so proud of her.. she had a great attitude, and was determined AND flexible in her abilities and limitations. She never put down her own work, and didn't get frustrated throughout the learning curve.

Thanks for being a great student - i love teaching!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

we are snowflakes!

We Won, WE WON 50,000 books for kids in Hawaii!!! Gooooo Hawaii, I'm so stoked!

“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.”


Aloha! jamie

Monday, September 28, 2009

lucky cherries!


first, i have these cute cherry baubles, that michelle put together with lucite and swarovski crystals. cherries have symbolism of success and happiness in love.

i have a small handful of these in the store, and would like to give them out to somebodies that would really love them and find an immediate place to wear/hang them! if that person is you, email me at jamie@thebeadgallery.com OR comment and i'll let you know if you will get one.



this necklace is straight strung spinel. ariel chose this as one of her personal faves in the store! quite pretty, yep!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

i love wire wrapping!


love this wire wrap with the "herringbone" weave! jason's teaching it tonight. our friend kara, figured out how to do this about 9 years ago (she's my smarty friend), and jason taught kriss, who then spread it out through northern california to other students and teachers in the area, and it caught on like wildfire - it was and still is super popular!! it's amazing how awesome things spread!

i suppose the moral of this story, is, don't worry so much about who's copying who. in the end, it won't matter at all. just make sure you're not hurting anyone along the way, have gratitude in your heart, and respect the divine in each other and ourselves. namaste!

Monday, September 21, 2009

welcome to the world!




michelle had her baby a few days ago, and she's a little sweetpea! i'm such a thrilled aunty, i came home and stayed up til 3am making a video!


cerise sakura yu, welcome to earth!
may your journey be long and fruitful - and may you be loved for all your life!