more ring bling...

cathy o. made these rings with art clay, and so can you!!! well, if you take her class at the bead gallery...

they're so pretty, i wanted to show them off on my slightly wrinkly hand. oh my, where did my collagen go?

the years speed by, look 2009 is halfway over! don't forget to do LOTS of things that make you happy, and stop doing things that make you mad! haha!

If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

californny fun!

i downloaded anna's 400+ pics from her portion of our california trip, and here's some that made me laugh! 

vacations are so much fun! i highly recommend them to everyone.. even if it's just hiding in your living room and ignoring the laundry and the dirty dishes.  it's a state of mind - i'm STILL on vacation :)

holly, aka "the tongue".

monty, trying to help me with my sit ups.

guess who's gonna eat some caramel apples? 

anna, did the dirtiest lollykeet of all, sit on your arm??

janet, oh my, jewelry-o!

janet of "janet jewelry" and dylan, of janet's womb

check out janet's new silver rings - and she said these are her "prototypes".  eeergh...  i want to pinch her! can you imagine what her "finished" designs are going to look like?  i want one of each!!

she told me that she's shaping them with wax sheets and her fingers - according to her, it's much like playdoh!  haha, eergh... my playdoh looked like worms :)

i'm so proud of her work, her hand skills and her determination in expressing her creativity, i wanted to show it off!

janet and i have been friends for over 10 years, and we went to high school and college together.  we did not take the same playdoh classes.

look out for a janet jewelry summer trunk show at the bead gallery (maybe august) where she'll have all of these one-of-a-kind pretties for sale!

***

I'm still unpacking from my trip.. will show pics of my bounty soon!  bought lots of beads for the store too, you beaders will be quite happy!

northern cali friends

we are still adventuring through california.  taking it day by day, and changing hotels on a whim.  tonight we are in sunnyvale :)

rob and amy - two of my dearest friends from college days at santa clara, are married and have 2 kiddies.  here we are re-enacting a pose that we did almost 20 years ago!

fresh strawberry pie at harris ranch.  except for the poo-poo smells and the flies, it was a yummy meal!

jason, relaxing on one of the cows that we ate.

griffith observatory - statue of einstein. hmmmm.

monty - my most favorite doggie in the world!  he has the kindest and most gentle and loving soul i've ever encountered in a living being.  i love you monty!  he's cheri's dog, and sadly not up for adoption.  one can only hope.  he lives in gardena - one of my big reasons for traveling to california!!

cuban bakery oh my!

tonight, we are going to eat meat pies and chicken empanadas! see above, yummers!!! they are from a cuban bakery called porto's in glendale or culver city... my new favorite bakery!

here is leonard, about to catch a fly the old fashioned way!

happy cheri, about to check in swarovski's newest color crystal, red magma. wow!


this is holly, she's a year and a half.. she says, "hi auntie anna!"

we are having lots of fun on our trip, eating lots of good foodies and seeing things in los angeles. heading up north in a few days.. keep in touch!

dizzneyland!

anna, carole, jason and i went to disneyland this week! can you believe it? i'm blogging from cheri's home in los angeles :)

then today, we went to the lucy ann headquarter's where they make the cutest personalized handmade charms... i couldn't believe the cool equipment they use to cut the blanks, grind, polish, stamp, punch and tumble.. wow!

more adventures to come, and anna's packing some awesome beads home, so be on the lookout at the end of june for some beady treasures!

byeee!

Preparing for our big trip!

How much underwear do you really need? Good question what is the real answer? This is jason, stealth blogger, btw. Over and out!

my cute husband!

wow, we have a lot of stuff!  it's weird to take a snapshot and see the store from a different perspective!  look at my cute husband!

it's been 12 years, and i'm thinking to myself now, no wonder people walk around like they're in a daze!  It's so difficult to focus with so many things to look at.  You need a tour guide to get through these things!!

so now, my new attitude towards my job is that i'm more of a "bead escort" or a "bead guide."  i was a tour guide for japanese tourists when i was 19-ish.  I really enjoyed it, except that i used to fall asleep on the long rides back from the north side after a full day tour.  oops!

i'm a much better worker now.  see? people change!

golden tree

mike t. came into the store today and showed me his sketch book... so inspiring, makes me so happy to be in a job where we can exchange creative energies with each other.

i chose to show this picture that he drew of a golden tree at u.h. cause it made me happy looking at it!

thanks mike!

june 09 favorite earrings

recently I asked Amanda to make a pair of earrings, BUT she couldn't use her favorite colors of aqua, turquoise, greens and blues.  "too many of those already" is what I said. such a meanie, huh!

she must have labored over this pair, and the next day when i came to work, i was like, "who made this?"  this color combination with pink topaz, sunstone, and citrine was so out of her comfort zone, i would never have guessed who made it!  I wore them today, and they are awesome!

what's the lesson of this story?  that you can bead for a decade, and still have trouble finding 4 beads that go nicely together.  the end!  

hot hot hiker!

we went hiking at the manoa trail earlier this week and it was probably 90 degrees out.  yikes!  it was not so fun going up, and thanks to the valley's cloud cover, enjoyable coming down!  we carried our cameras and here's three photos, done by jason (bamboo), amanda (fernie) and me (amanders), respectively.

 

i like how the photos reflect the differences in what we find interesting, what we are looking at, and where we can find beauty everyday!

i heart my mom

I made my mom a pair of heart earrings!  I told my friend teri that I'd make her a pair also, so i showed her these, and asked what size she wanted.  Even after all these years, I forget that not everyone KNOWS how wire jewelry is made!  She thought I just linked pre-made hearts together and was so surprised when I told her that I shaped these from straight wire!  LOVE those wrap and taps!

Gotta jam to my mom's to drop it off before going in to work!  Byeeee!