New Crab Fire Agate Beads

I love these! They are so different and remind me of candy. An interesting color to work with, I was a bit intimidated by them at first..but ended up having the most fun. I've mixed them with some crazy lace agate that had a lot of orange on it, carnelian, rhyolite and olive opal. available here

Gladly saying goodbye to 2006

This year hasn't been the greatest for me...my grandmother died in March... a few months ago my step dad had a heart attack....we had that crazy earthquake that freaked us all out and reminded us that we do in fact live on a volcano with no way to quickly get off and run to saftey (everyone here wondered if Haleakala was finally waking up when that one hit)...and now my mom and step dad just moved to the mainland after living here for 15 years.

That last one was the hardest blow and very unexpected. I still feel like I'm having a really bad dream and I'm going to wake up any minute and things will go back to normal. The whole family is here because of them...and now they are gone. Dad's work wasn't going so well and he really needs to be on insurance because of his heart...plus there is some non-evasive treatment my mom is hoping to get for him over on the mainland.

It all happened so fast too, us kids (me, my brother and my sister all live here with our little families) were taken totally by suprise when they told us they had to leave. and they were gone in under 2 weeks! We are a very close family and have all taken it pretty hard...it just seems wrong :( We've worked so hard to all stay here together.


Mom and Koa

Travel is difficult as it is expensive to live here and flying the whole family to the mainland doesnt' happen very often. We know we will be sending for mom as much as possible. Dad is like me..he hates to fly. My sister doesnt' think he will come much. But that's not even the point...sure it's pretty here and we have nice weather..but there really isn't much to do here...family is all we had..it's the main focus of our lives..I hate to sum up the rest of me and my mothers time together in a handful of visits. She is my best friend..I would talk to her everyday..see her multiple times a week, go out to lunch once a week and do our grocery shopping together. When my kid is sick..she has always been right there. I miss her so much already :(


My mom is so cute here..but it's a horrible picture of me...I was crying and had no makeup on...it was a horrible day saying goodbye to my momma.


Mom and my sister Kim


Mom and my brother Jason


Cameron and his grandma


Heres my dad and Kana....I hope he can get the care he needs over there. It's sad thinking that something could happen to him and we might never see him again...plus my sister and I aren't there to help.


mom, kim and I...early in the morning the day they left.

In an attempt to keep us in touch..I went right out and bought a webcam for myself and my parents..my sister already has one built in to her computer. Her's seems to have a clearer picture..but I did mess with some settings and got the color to work a little better. Her's a snap shot from it of me and my husband..but before I worked on the color. It's pretty washed out...but it will be better then just phonecalls



Sorry to make such a downer post...I'll try to post some pretty jewelry tomorrow..I got some amazing crab fire agate..it's so beautiful and different..very fun to work with! I need to keep beading so I can make money to send for my mom! I wasn't feeling very creative but forced myself to bead last night and it felt really good! Will post those pics tomrrow.

my sis took this nice shot of my son Cameron 

My sis at our booth at the Ben Franklin Craft Fair Winter 2006 

I've managed to turn both my sisters kids into superman fans...Kana has grown out of it..but now I've got Koa hooked. They learn from a young age that superman and clark kent are one in the same...very important information in my book ;-)

Koa does'nt usually willingly pose...with his mom being a photographer..he's so tired of her taking pics. This particular day we were at my mom's house and Koa comes running up to me and says "Mimi! Look at this glove! It's SOOO COOL!" so I got lots of poses out of him in his superman PJ's and the yellow kitchen glove lol! 

Me and my little side kick 

My sister Kimberlee with her camera and her good freind Melissa wearing some of our jewelry she bought.  

Aihara Visuals

I wanted to take this moment to introduce my sister Kim's other talent..yes she is my partner in crime with the jewelry, but she's also been dabbling in photography for about a year now. Just the like jewelry..her hobby has turned into a little business that is fast growing. Check her work out at Aihara Visuals

If you're coming to Hawaii to get married or just want to have a really cool photoshoot out by the beach I highly recommend Aihara Visuals! Kim and her hubby Nate (also very artistic) shoot together..each with thier own camera so they get the event covered from more then one angle and are able to capture the emotion of the event very well.

Here's one of her her latest shots of her two boys..my nephews Kana and Koa...I just love this pic!


 

My precious neice Kiley wearing the jewelry I made her for a wedding she was in :) 

My son's first concert..

This is my son and husband...they don't look very enthused here lol! they were quite excited though. Pat Benetar played on Maui...we don't get very many bigger names here. Amazing it was my kid that wanted to go so bad..he loves Pat Benetar...that's his dads fault..we are always reminiscing with our 80's music. So this was Cameron's first concert. I stayed home...not really a Pat Benetar fan myself. 

I love this pic my sis took of my nephew Koa 

Mother of Pearl Square Dangle earrings
availablehere

autumn jewelry

This one is not even priced and on the website yet...it's waiting for the matching necklace. I was out of gold crimp covers so had to wait till they came in so I could finish it. just got them yesterday...so hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow if the weather behaves.

A plethora of new bracelets!

The focus this month has been bracelets! Don't ask me why...it just sort happened lol! Both my sister and I had the same idea I guess...we both made bracelets...and we don't even share a studio...thats right..she works in hers and I work in mine. You will see the same beads in our creations because we split all bead orders in half...just incase you were wonderin' *wink*

Double Strand Purple Jungle Bracelet

A double strand mix of red tigers eye, purple dyed crazy lace agate, purple and green freshwater pearls, lime chalk turquoise jasper, leopard skin jasper, gaspeite,Hill tribe silver fancy disks, Bali silver daisy spacers and two silverized pewter charms.

available here Jonara Blu Maui 

Double Strand Red Tigers Eye and Turquoise Bracelet

A double strand mix of red tigers eye, turquoise, a Pacific Lagoon freshwater pearl, turquoise jasper, leopard skin jasper, Hill tribe silver fancy disks and two Hill tribe silver charms.

available here Jonara Blu Maui 

Amazonite and Paua Shell Charm Bracelet

Faceted squares of amazonite showing off dangle charms of paua shell, amazonite faceted roundels, faceted Hill Tribe silver, silver pewter freshwater pearls and faceted squares of labradorite. All are hand wire wrapped in sterling silver wire.
available here at Jonara Blu Maui 

Aqua Starfish - Multi-gem Beaded Bracelet

Hill Tribe Silver Starfish swimming amongst amazonite, freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals, turquoise dyed jasper, labradorite and crazy lace agate with Hill Tribe and Bali silver accents.

available here at Jonara Blu Maui. 

Sophisticated Hula - Pearl and Sugilite Beaded Bracelet

Deep smokey purple coin pearls, sugilite faceted sugilite briolettes, tanzanite Swarovski crystals, Bali silver spacers and sterling silver beads.

available here at Jonara Blu Maui. 

'Blu' Berry Swirl - Multi-gem Beaded Bracelet

A yummy mix of blue dyed agate, natural turquoise, dyed turquoise, sleeping beauty turquoise, Pacific Lagoon freshwater pearls, dyed blue quartz, deep teal oval coin pearls, kyanite, Hill Tribe silver accents and a sweet little Hill Tribe silver swirl charm.


available here at Jonara Blu Maui

Kiwi Star- Multi-gem Beaded Bracelet

A yummy mix of peridot, aquamarine, freshwater pearls, turquoise, chalk turquoise, olive jade, lime dyed chalcedony, Hill Tribe silver accents and a sweet little Hill Tribe silver starfish.

available here at Jonara Blu Maui

African Amethyst and Bronzite Chunky Bracelet

Rich chunkiness with huge faceted African amethyst nuggets, bronzite pillows, purple dyed crazy lace agate, brown snowflake jasper, earth green dyed turquoise and accents of Hill Tribe silver.

available here Jonara Blu Maui

Dragon Fruit

I finally got to try one of these! it was more of a colorful experience then a flavorful one..though it was very juicy and refreshing esp since I had chilled it. It sort of tasted like a mix of kiwi/melon/cactus fruit...just in a very light watered down flavor. Has the texture of a kiwi too.