New Amulet

This is my present to myself for Mother’s Day. Well, more like I made this at 4am because I got bit by the creative bug and immediately went into “Sheldon” mode but without the “eureka!”. Hehehehe. It’s aquamarine and morganite. I finally got my morganite from Allison a few weeks ago and I’ve been fondling the strand of beads, contemplating what to do with it. It wasn’t until yesterday, as I was reading up on the properties of aquamarine, I finally figured out why I’ve been craving beryl stones in general.

I’m learning to trust my instincts and intuition more and the aquamarine is helping me build that self-confidence. It’s also guiding me through the flurry of emotions and just going with the flow of things. I don’t always go with the flow very well, especially when it involves change. It’s a very beneficial stone for me, which explains why I’ve been drawn to it during the past few bead shows. Morganite helps promote love and compassion, as well as acknowledging old patterns and subconsciously figuring out how to go from there and move on. It’s almost like an emotional vacuum cleaner.

My life has been everything but simple. I’m finally happy with who I am and I acknowledge my flaws and shortcomings. These stones are great for that journey, as I dive deeper in the throes of marriage, motherhood, and my art. One thing my mother told me a few months ago as I was trying to explain how I’ve been feeling, is that you have to live in the present. I’ve known that for a long time, simply because you’re not happy living in either the past or the future. You’re missing all the great things that are happening right now. It’s just a hard concept to grasp when you’re caught up in the flood of emotions that come with past traumas and exciting new things. Learning to let go and go with the flow is a great application for situations like these. Having a baby has actually helped ground me to stay in the present because if I blink, my baby is going to grow up into a man before I realize it. He’s starting to have an opinion and he’s not afraid to show it. Oy, he gets his sass from me.

Yoga has been amazing. I’ve decided to continue with kundalini yoga twice a week. I’m also going to try restorative yoga and that will round it out to 3 classes a week. It forces me to slow down and be in the moment. It’s also part of my self-care regimen because it’s easy to fall into the trap of “I’m a Mom!” and nothing but that. Yes, this is my attempt at being well rounded. So far so good. Working out is good for my creative soul as well, so there are numerous benefits as well. I’m really happy with how this week has been and I hope the future is just as awesome. Now if only I can remember what my Dropbox password is…

Back to Basics Again

I was inspired to make this ruby bracelet and now I’m inspired to continue upon this path of bead-chainmaille bit-bead pattern. It’s a good pattern and I just forgot about it. Let’s see what awesomeness I come up with now.

Brewing

I have a new bracelet design in my head but no time to put it into fruition. Grrr. Basically it’ll be a chain bracelet with glass beads and a chainmaille flower alternating. Maybe with a rock and some crystal hanging off it. I think it’ll be Phase 2 of Harmony bracelets. I was going to work on it tonight but I got a FaceTime call from Jesse.1 and that was the end of that. Oh well. I’ll get it soon.

My Harmony collection incorporates all of my favorite things: chainmaille, Swarovski crystal, stones, and sometimes artisan glass beads. So far I’ve been making cute charm bracelets but I need to do more with it. Again, when baby lets me…

Grounded

I’ve been working on the floor this week. I just figured out why. Hui.1 is trying to roll over but he hasn’t quite figured out how to roll over from his back to his tummy. He can sometimes roll from his tummy to his back, but he has to be in the right mood for it. Since he’s either on the floor or playing on his gym, he’s down there and I need to be down there next to him too. So I’ve been working on the floor. I feel like a little kid again. I also had Jesse.1 lounging all over the apartment floor for the week she was here, so that also has something to do with it.

I’ve been diligently working on my Rock on a Rope collection. I feel that this is the year of “understated elegance”. Something that can be used for both causal, lazy days and that extra bit of something special for more dressier occasions. We’re busy women, taking over the world and taking care of everyone but ourselves. Some women can’t afford a huge piece of bling and I get that. That’s why this collection is so dear to me. It’s just enough femininity and practicality rolled into a tiny package. And those modern day rock hounds can appreciate my love of obscure, rough stones.

So come on, get your rock on.

Pretty Things!

I’m just going to post pictures and write later… here are some new designs and new rocks.

Energy

Spent the day with my two oldest friends.  It was magical.

We haven’t hung out exclusively as the three of us since the weekend before my wedding, as we were stuffing my wedding favors and pigging out on pizza and this crazy pizza bread chocolate dessert thingy from Domino’s.  We were also watching some movie with Cher and Christina Aguilera… don’t remember the name, but it was surprisingly decent.  Sahara had probably one of the worst pregnancies in history and spent the entire pregnancy throwing up almost everything except french fries.  It was not a good time for her and she missed three weddings.  The first wedding, she was in the hospital for dehydration, the second wedding, she was having contractions, and around my wedding, baby was hanging out in the birth canal, but didn’t come out until almost two weeks later.  2011 was a roller coaster year for all of us, so I feel that it’s safe to say that we haven’t all synced together like we did today in at least two years.  That was the magical part of the day.

Sahara and Kandle are far better mystics than I am, even though I still have a lot to figure out; mostly what exactly my skills are.  Kandle is Queen of stone energies, while Sahara reads auras.  They dubbed me “Klingon Warship” because I shield so much that they can’t read any energy off of me.  Kandle has a better time with me because she sets her energy radar on whatever my frequency is, but it’s still far fetched because it’s so low.  It’s interesting that after all these years, they finally DO feel something off of me, but they’re sensing the baby, not me.  I was very amused by this, but Kandle did mention that Hui.1 should have a very strong water element, considering that he punched holes through my shields so they could sense him.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens after I give birth… will my shields go back to normal or will the holes still be there?

As far as my skills go, my “Spidey” sense for picking out the stones with good energy is innate.  I just do it.  If a strand of beads doesn’t “speak” to me, I set it down and leave it alone.  If it makes me go “Ooo”, it’s a good strand.  My Crazy Pirate Rock Lady had a small strand of rubies and I just could not set it down.  It so came home with me.  So yeah, innate rock sense.  I’ve toyed with water scrying a bit (duh, super duper water element here), and the only thing I got out of it is that I need to be bellydancing in order to stay creative with my jewelry.  Which is true, even though I haven’t been dancing since Sashi left for her Summer Down Under Tour.  I’m extremely sensitive to negative energy, though.  Enough that any taste of it makes my skin crawl and I want to run away screaming.

Today was nice because it felt normal.  Normal as in the three of us are happy and syncing together.  The only explanation I have for this phenomenon is that there’s nothing significantly stressing any of us out that’s taking away from that happy, “la la la” energy.  It was a genuine happy to be together energy and it was nice.  It gives me hope that no matter where life takes us, we can still come together and commune like usual. ♥

I have to do some research, but Hui.1 has made an interesting twist in my selection of stones this year.  I’ve been seriously craving tourmaline of all colors (mostly multicolored but still, it’s been one heck of a year for tourmaline), iolite, aqaumarine, charoite, garnet, sunstone, and moonstone.  Oh, and I prefer things that are BLUE.  My favorite maternity dresses are blue (and a purple one because it’s comfy and beats the So Cal heat).  Geez, I feel like a Smurf.  But I wonder what this baby is trying to tell me with all these stones…

The Hui Hui Process of Earring Design

Jesse wanted to go out since we’ll be staying home a lot in the near future.  So I decided on trying out The Filling Station Cafe in Old Town Orange.  It was actually pretty good with a really great atmosphere.  I had a really yummy meatloaf that apparently had a little bit of a kick to it and topped with BBQ sauce that I initially thought was ketchup.  Of course, I tried to get as much of it off as I could be I despise ketchup.  But the remnants of the BBQ sauce was actually pretty good and more than enough to help flavor the meat.  I’ll go back with Hui.1 when I’m allowed to have chocolate.  It was really hard to decide between the cheese fondue and the meatloaf.  But definitely going back for chocolate fondue.  Way cheaper than The Melting Pot and it was a lovely non-yucky summer evening to be eating out on the patio.

Came home and got settled in, then decided to sit down with my teeny tiny rings to figure out how to make new earrings.  I busted out my really awesome garnets and just started playing.  I switched on some Emile Autumn to stimulate some right brain function and just tinkered without any real direction, other than, “Huh, let’s use these pretty garnets.”  I started noting to myself not to buy any more teeny tiny briolettes.  So annoying.  So I started with a pair of very basic, kinda boring earrings.  I carried on, starting the base of another pair, then took a shower, and got ready for bed.  All the while watching Season 7 of Buffy. ♥

And these were the fruits of my labor for the night.

Pregnant brain has really gotten to me, because I don’t know when I decided to COMBINE the two together.  I really think it was this morning, but don’t quote me on that.  I finished one earring before heading to the office at least.  I assembled the other one after I got home.  Now I just need to take pretty pictures and take them for a test run tomorrow.  ;)

I really surprised myself with this pair of earrings and how it all came together.  But the intention was there, so that helped a lot.  I haven’t channeled myself like this for a very long time and it felt really good.  As though I still AM capable of this much creative and abstract thought.  I need to remember to write this all down so I can re-create it later.  One artist, I forget who, has a “jewelry cookbook” of designs ready for production.  I have a few designs already written down but I need to be more consistent with it so I can just start whipping out jewelry.  But, I do prefer the slow, tried, and true method of tinkering and playing vs simply cranking out designs.  But it’s good to have notes.  I also need to consolidate my notes.  More organization.  Bleh.

But yay!  EARRINGS!!!

Pasadena Bead and Design Show Recap

As I’ve mentioned countless times before, Pasadena is my happy place.  My entire family has been in love with Pasadena for over 40 years.  I have no idea what the draw is, but it’s definitely magical.  Mom’s family settled there before moving to Orange County, she and Dad courted there, and even I fell in love with it as I came into adulthood.

When I arrived in Glendale to meet up with Allison and her mom, I was treated to homemade KFC fried chicken.  Allison had been marinating the chicken in her secret sauce for 2 whole days.  Eating it fresh out of the frying pan was a real treat.  Hui.1 and I were very pleased with the quantity of protein and just a hint of flouring for the outside.  They made it especially for me, since they usually coat it in flour twice, but this batch only had one coating.  Once we finally made it out the door, we stopped at the donut shop for some naughty treats (hey, I only ate HALF of my donut that day), and made our way down the 134 to the Pasadena Hilton.

First stop was the Crazy Pirate Rock Lady, who was thrilled to find me expecting and how well I carry the baby.  I said having gestational diabetes has helped me keep off any excessive baby weight, which is pretty true considering how difficult it is to gain weight from limited carbs and a plentiful amount of protein.  Crazy Pirate Rock Lady had a blast quizzing Allison’s mom about all the different kinds of stones she had, because she has the craziest stash you could ever imagine.  I’m still drooling over the color changing garnets (she was down to her last 2 strands), but I don’t think it could handle 26g wire and it makes me nervous working on anything that requires 26g wire unless it’s earrings.  I have to say the best loot from her this round was the goregous strand of Goeshite, 3 pieces of sparkly golden green apatite, and a very special strand of iolite and tanzanite.  I promised her I would keep the iolite and tanzanite together since she wanted that particular strand to go to a special home. ♥

After we were finished with the Crazy Pirate Rock Lady, we circled the rest of the room and then headed directly to our next favorite vendor with some really AMAZING multicolor tourmaline.  These tourmaline beads came from these guys…

I ended up getting 3 strands… 1 with some awesomely large tourmaline beads (great for focals), 1 that’s a great size for more rock on a rope necklaces, and 1 very special strand of sliced watermelon tourmaline in bead form.  I’ve already put away the other two strands, but I haven’t had the heart to cut the slices yet.  I need to separate out the pairs that would make awesome earrings first.  Still waiting for that moment of, “alright, I’m going to do this!”

After that stop, I decided to sit out the next room and settled at the little Starbucks to finish off the baggie of fried chicken and cantaloupe.  People watching was pretty fun and the couple sitting next to me were very friendly and even offered me a bite of their chocolate cupcake, which was apparently the last one.  I politely declined and eventually made my way back to Allison and her mom.  They were drooling over the wire wrapped stone pendants and the artist was really awesome, interacting with both of them and talking about all of her drool worthy stones.

In the next big room over, I came across my other rock vendor whom I’ve dubbed as my “Mongolian rock people” because the husband has the look of a skinny Mongolian warrior.  Hehee.  It turned out that their daughter’s best friend was my wedding photographer.  I was chatting with the wife about the baby and the Chinese seclusion and customs for postpartum.  It’s weird, but after she said the same things my mom said, yeah, I’m seriously going to be a cow for the first month.  At least it’ll be nice to stay home and mostly in bed.  According to the blog link, a lot of the food on there is stuff Jesse puts in his salsa… I foresee him making a run to Superior for chips and salsa supplies.  Hehehe.  I need to remind him if his family leave is fully paid or not.  But it sounds like he gets a pretty good deal for 6 weeks of working for 2 days a week, then spending the other 3 days at home.  I bought some square kyanite beads that will make great earrings and necklaces (maybe an infinity necklace), some awesome grossular garnets I just couldn’t put down, and more sunstone.  She always gives me a better price than what’s marked, so whoo hoo!  It’s always nice to see them at all the bead shows I go to.  Hopefully one of their kids will keep the business running, or else I’m going to be really sad!

Eventually, we made our way back to the Crazy Pirate Rock Lady for Round 2 and meeting up with a friend whom we befriended at the last Pasadena show.  It was fun, we got to meet her wife and son.  Her son was really shy even though he was completely enthralled with pregnant women.  Beautiful family and we all bought more rocks.  Here’s a shot of all of my rock loot.  I forgot to include the glass beads I got from Grace…

Finally, we made it to the last room, which was also the main room of the show.  Yeesh, it was already 2-something by then. We wandered around and I found a chair to sit in because my feet were getting zonked.  The highlight of this trip and it’s crowning glory was when Allison’s mom found a lucky Chinese dangle of BOK CHOY.  She bought one for me and one to share between her and Allison.  We were laughing hysterically over the fact that it was bok choy.  Even the guy selling it to her was impressed she knew what it was… the pitfalls of being Caucasian and marrying Asian, I suppose.  So yes, this was the epitome of our adventure.

The last stop was seeing all the pretty shiny glass beads from Grace.  As I’ve said before, Grace is a former Computer Engineer gone artist.  She’s awesome and makes awesome beads.  We were jumping up and down in the aisle in front of her booth because of the baby and all that.  It must have been a sight to be seen.  Hehehe.  She gave me a free heart bead for the baby.  Of course, after I carefully picked out all of the beads I wanted.  I was very selective because I’ve hoarded so many of her beads but haven’t used them enough to justify the cost of owning so many and not making/selling enough jewelry with them.  Someday, I will find the perfect equation for it… I have a perfect bracelet design down, now for the rest…

The original plan was to stop at the Scarlet Tea Room for tea and snacks, but the kitchen closes at 4pm to get ready for dinner.  That was disappointing, but we found a cute little coffee and chocolate shop closer to the parking structure.  We took inventory of our loot while sipping our tea.  I love cute little café’s like that. ♥

All and all, an awesome day with awesome company.  Complete with rocks and bok choy.

This morning, Jesse picked up my strand of bok choy (it lives on the Brita pitcher that sits on the table.  I want to attach house bells to it), giggled, and shook his head at me.  He agrees it is the epitome of this Pasadena adventure.

The Power of Love… and He-Man

Yesterday I decided I was going to spend my child rearing years reassessing my style and what kind of legacy I want to leave behind while I focus on my family.  I also decided to focus on my “Chainmaille with a Hui-Twist” collection because it embodies me the most and is what I wanted to do with all of my chainmaille after I absorbed all I could on that basic left brain level.  The next step was to figure out how to adorn it and I was so happy to have Aislyn of Urban Maille as my guide into the next level of ascension.  I’ve mentioned my creative plateau before, but I’ll link to it again for significance.  The early part of 2008 was when I decided to take my jewelry to the next level, and OMG, it really, really did.  By 2010, I got a little lost, but now that my personal life has settled down into married life and soon-to-be motherhood, it’s nice to be somewhat back in action.  Jesse has made a huge difference in my creative mojo.  It’s wonderful to have such a supportive and adoring husband.

I made this bracelet after spending the weekend with Jesse.1 and being surrounded by friends and family.  Embodiment of all the love and mushy stuff that was spewing out that weekend.  I worked on it Saturday night well past midnight if I recall correctly.  I have an idea for another necklace just like this with the rose gold accents, but I’ve been hesitating for some reason.  I should just make it and see what happens.

Last night, I decided I wanted a Double Double from In-N-Out (one of the few fast food items I can eat) and figured Jesse could take care of his own dinner.  It was still really hot so after scarfing down the deliciousness with a tall glass of milk, I decided to take a nap (yay for pregnancy laziness), played a round of Diablo (yay for killing monsters), then eventually got myself settled at the eating table with my iPad perched and ready to watch some He-Man.  Played Emile Autumn to get into the mood while Jesse tinkered with the CD drive he dissected out of my old computer.  Once I got the initial right brain stuff going to the point that I knew what I wanted, I switched over to watching He-Man and explained to Jesse that I haven’t seen ALL the episodes because I was 4 and only remembered probably a quarter of them.  When they were released on DVD in 2005, I was ecstatic and spent a good chunk of time watching them over and over as background noise or zoning out after a long day at the office.  Even my mom figured out whenever I was watching He-Man, I was exhausted and recharging my batteries.  So you can imagine the happiness of being able to watch He-Man and make jewelry at the same time again.

I ended up making this necklace.  The focal bead is a kyanite, and it’s really difficult to polish kyanite like this because it has two different MOH hardnesses on the vertical and horizontal axis.  This was the very first strand of beads I bought from my Crazy Pirate Rock Lady.

Love really is a many splendid thing.  You can’t sustain a marriage solely on love, but it’s definitely more than just icing on the cake.  I know just exactly how blessed I am and I am thankful for everything everyday, even on the days when he’s being grouchy and annoying.

Ooo, Rocks!

Last night I decided to bust out my stone boxes full of iolite, sunstone, and tourmaline.  The idea was to make more earrings, but that idea didn’t pan out.  I did end up going back to work on my “Rock on a Rope” collection.  This weekend, I hope to take photos and start listing them on Etsy.  I also need to calculate the prices too.  I’m hoping this will be a more affordable collection, because I want everyone from any walk of life to be able to purchase a stone that speaks to them.  This collection is also a way of introducing stones and their energy properties to the masses.  It’s also been a good way for me to freshen up on my stone studies.  I just happened to buy a stone book for my Kindle.  That’ll be more helpful than lugging around my favorite stone book everywhere.  I’ll have a baby to lug around in 2 months and a bit.  Yikes.  It’s scary how time flies.

From the left, prehnite, rough watermelon tourmaline, rose quartz, larimar, and pink tourmaline.

From the left, iolite, sunstone, iolite-sunstone waiting for their chainmaille bit and chain. ♥

Sporting my iolite and sunstone necklace with iolite-sunstone focal bead.  Of course, the focal bead is from my crazy pirate rock lady.  And I really don’t look pregnant from the chest up.  Hehehe.