3 Little Birdz

When you drink water, remember the spring.
~ Chinese Proverb

Hawaii has many charms that visitors find memorable. It’s no wonder sine Hawaii is full of culture, nature, wildlife and arts. Even a trip to the beach becomes an amazing experience when you see honu (Hawaiian for turtle).

This necklace is a collection of some of Hawaii’s charms to remember. Charms and chain are all sterling silver The toggle clasp the charms hang from is the main focus. This necklace is 20″ long and has three charms, a tiki, a honu, and a slippah.

I’ll be listing it in my Studio Hana Hou Etsy store.

The honu (Hawaiian word for turtle) is one of the most treasured and popular animals in Hawaii. The honu is a symbol of longivity and an ultimate navigator who returns to the sands of their birth. For many the honu is a family amakua (ah-ma-koo-ah), a guardian spirit protector that helps guide you through life and connect us with the past.

This honu petroglyph pendant has been hand crafted by me in .999 pure silver (fine silver) and has been hand polished to a gleaming shine. It measures almost 7/8″ across and a smidg over 1mm thick. Soon this honu will be listed in my Studio Hana Hou store on Etsy. Hope you like it!

You know that content feeling you have in your heart when your walking down the beach? That’s the feeling this necklace has. There’s a flat freshwater pearl, a crystal briolet, and a sterling silver shell floating on a sterling silver chain. It’s as if while walking down the beach you were collecting shells and beach glass and then made a necklace with them. Can you hear the waves breaking on the shore?

This necklace will be listed in my Studio Hana Hou Etsy store just in case you want A beachwalk all your own.

A bar of 7 beautifully colored black freshwater pearls hanging on a sterling silver chain. Simplicity at it’s finest. Would be just as beautiful worn with a t-shirt and jeans as it is with a little black dress. Going into my Etsy Store.

Two years ago or so I started making fine silver jewelry using Art Clay Silver. The clay starts out in a small block of about 20 grams and is comprised of recycled pure silver powder suspended in an organic base. After you design whatever shapes you desire you fire the dried piece and it burns off the organic matter so all that’s left is pure silver. It’s really an exciting medium to create things with.

Today I took another class with Gordon Uyahara at Bead It in Kailua. I got certified to teach ACS modeling with Gordon so it was great to spend time with him again. There were 5 of us in tge class and we worked on texture and bezels. I drew the honu (turtle) then used it as a pattern to cut the pendant out of prepared clay. The little birdie with the blue jeweled egg is an image I stamped into the clay with polymer stamps I have.

There’s a bit more polishing to do on these pieces but Iwhen they’re done I’ll probably be listing them in my etsy store: Studio Hana Hou.

In the week I’ve been using the new ipad I’ve discovered that sometimes when lying on a tabletop I want the ipad to be tilted towards me and not just flat. It’s easier to type on the horizontal keyboard which is the huge selling feature for me. Of course I didn’t buy the cover Apple designed just for that purpose when I bought the ipad and now there’s not one to be found on this island.

After going back to the Apple store to check out their sample again I still don’t like the cover Apple made to tilt the ipad so i don’t feel bad about not buying it but that still left me with the tilt problem. This is where being creative comes in handy….

Take a look at my new invention, the iWedge! ((drumroll please!))

Can you see on the side how the iPad is slightly tilted up?

After looking around for something I could use as a wedge but would lay flat when tucked away in the case with the iPad my eyes locked on an old mousepad I use as a cushion when running paper through embossing plates. It’s 6″ x 8.5″ and is rubber on one side and stiff but bendable on the other which works out perfect.

I folded (not creased!) the mousepad in half lengthwise with the rubber side out in a long U shape.

Then set the iPad on top of the rubber pad with the folded side facing away from me. Now the iPad is propped up and typing with the iPad horizontal is much easier. It bounces a tiny bit but with a few minor modifications it may seat more firmly. The important thing is it does the trick and is easily portable.

Several months ago I was laid off from a job I’d been at for about 5 years. Yes it was traumatic and yes it’s had stressful moments but there’s been many good things that have happened as well. For instance my blood pressure has dropped from 160/90 to 130/76. One doctor’s visit it was 110/70 and I was practically dancing in the the air I was sitting in while the doctor was talking to me. It hadn’t been that low in YEARS and I was practically giddy with excitement.

Not only has my blood pressure dropped but I’m eating more regularly and better and I’ve cut way back on drinking sodas. As a result of that and walking a lot more than I have in years I’ve lost over 20 pounds! Talk about ego opium! Yesterday at Nordstroms I was even able to buy a smaller size blouse than I expected which felt great.

Besides the health benefits there have been professional benefits as well that wouldn’t have happened along with networking and learning. I’m much more social and active and basically happier. Who knew getting laid off would be good for your health.

Health and dental insurance is the one major thing about having a steady job that I’ve sorely missed (besides the obvious paychecks). I’m waiting to see if the new health care legislation that was passed will make health care more available.

So overall getting laid off has been good for me. Too bad it took loosing my job for me to take better care of myself. It’s a lot easier though without everyone else piling the stress on and having much more time to do things. In fact I gained about 6 hours of free time each week just because I’m not commuting Monday through Friday. That’s like gaining an extra day a month or 12 extra days a year! Works for me! Stay tuned for more weight loss updates and other exciting developments.

The other day I bought custom graphics for my Etsy store “Studio Hana Hou”. Today I looked at the banners and other images and absolutely LOVE them!!! There’s nothing in my store right now but if you want to see one of the new banners go here. Here’s the store I bought the graphics from. She designs cute and polished graphics.

Here’s a link to the latest COPIC color chart: http://copicmarker.com/wp-content/themes/copicmarker/PDF/Blank_Hand_Color_Chart.pdf

Took this after a brief rain shower today. Plumeria is my favorite flower. When I was a kid I used to use the leaf stem and plug up the drain holes of my red wagon, fill it with water and bunches of plumeria blossoms to make flower water. It’s Good to live in Hawaii.