Beads and Legos of Summer

Yes, I have been a bit distracted from my jewelry passion lately.

I have been very determined to help my fiver year old son learn to be a stronger swimmer so we've been in the pool practically every day this summer.  He loves the water and is definitely part fish like his father but he has had a great fear of THE DEEP END! Several attempts to motivate him into the DEEP END ended up in tears. Hmmmm. I decided to bribe him.... The other day, I told him that when he was ready and could swim from the deep end to the shallow end (long length of the pool) I would buy him a new Lego set.   I know, I know... I shouldn't have but I just KNEW he could do it! He looked at me and said "You mean for FREE??... No allowance?"  I said "Yes!".  He ran straight to the deep end, jumped in and swam all the way to the shallow end ...NO TEARS!  Thank you Lego...mission accomplished!

Despite my hours in the pool, I have managed to squeeze in a little creative time for myself and managed to design and assemble a few pieces that have been sitting in my studio for a few months.  I made the silver pieces months ago but as you can see, I'm finally playing with the beads I went crazy buying at the bead shows and having so much fun! Here is a sneak preview before they hit Etsy....

"You are all separate beads strung together on that one thread, God."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

Peony Roses

Peony roses. 

Yes, there is such a thing!  

They are my new favorite flower...well, almost.  

Peonies are still my favorite but they are impossible to purchase or grow in Southern California. 

It's possible that peony roses are also impossible to grow here too but no worries because I can order them from my dear friend Liza who owns a flower company (Fiftyflowers.com).  

I first saw these roses at mutual friends house who received them as a gift for Valentine's Day from her husband via Fifty Flowers.  I freaked out!  

When Liza and I decided to host and decorate a table at our kids school fundraiser this year, I said I would love to use the peony roses.  

By the way, darlings, the official name is "Peony Rose Yves Piaget"....so fancy.
AND, they are incredibly aromatic and smell like heaven above!

 Well, Liza ordered TONS....and gave me two dozen to take home.  Woohooo!!!

Thank you my dear!

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck."  

~Emma Goldman

Zen Earth and Zen Skies

1.  Zen Earth

2. Zen Skies

3. Zen Sole Luna

These three necklaces are the first in my Zen series.  Zen Earth is a handmade fine silver metal clay pendant with a round turquoise bead.  Zen skies is a rectangular blue kyanite pendant bead with handmade fine silver accent beads. The Zen Sole Luna is a large piranha agate stone disk accented with a handmade fine silver metal clay bead. They are simple and natural, contemporary yet rustic.

"The Japanese word Zen is derived from the Chinese word Chán, which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit worddhyāna, which means "meditation" or "meditative state." "

Heaven & Earth

These turquoise beads were a great find on Ebay, though I wasn't sure what I would do with them at the time of purchase. I couldn't resist them as they reminded me of a little planet... our beautiful gaia... of earth and water.  I knew I wanted to hang them from a handmade silver piece that I would eventually create and when I had them in my own hand, I knew that the silver would represent the heavens.  Keeping with the theme of my "Cosmic Mandala" pendant, I decided to make a unique silver "cosmic" disc for each bead.  Here are the results!

I'm going to call them "Heaven and Earth" .......hoping to get them up on Etsy tonight!