Dreaming of Spring

Currently at work on collection numero deux. I seem to be inadvertently treading into soft, feminine, romantic territory with this one. Hints of Elizabeth Bennett in delicate pastels -- trying to capture something of what early Spring looks like.

Belated Valentine

I was actually having such a jolly time Saturday that I'd completely forgotten it was Valentine's Day. So I am late in sending you all this musical candy-gram.

Love and SweetTarts,
l

En Route for daphne

About seven years ago, when I was still a teacher teaching English in Japan and had as yet to pick up a pair of flat-nosed pliers, I was talking to a student after class when she mentioned that she was planning to start an online site selling jewelry. I wished her luck.

Several years later, she takes me to a huge jewelry supply shop in Harajuku, where I spend the rest of the day with stars in my eyes and a burning conviction that I need to spend the rest of my life surrounded by these sparkly sparkly gems and metals.

Fast forward again and I'm two years into running my own jewelry line, En Route. I am in California on vacation, shopping at a mall when I come upon a store selling the most sublime silk ribbon in vibrant hues of turquoise and pink. I'll get some of that, I think, I might be able to incorporate them into necklaces. The next day I receive an email from my old friend, with an invitation to make a collection for her online shop, daphne.

So here we are, all these years later, and my first collection for daphne, a collection based on that Californian ribbon, is debuting in a matter of hours.
One thing, it would seem, leads to another...

Lace + Blue Roses

the first pieces in my new Spring collection

I have been lost in the world of my imagination this week. A magical ship bearing treasures untold docked in my harbour, and now my days are spent coaxing dazzling gems and golden metal into new and pleasing forms.
In prose: a fresh supply of jewelry-making goodies arrived from overseas, and the inspiration for new pieces doth floweth (okay, that last part was poetry again).
Also, this past week I've had an overwhelming response to my shop over at 1000 Markets and had so many new orders that I temporarily ran out of packing supplies. A happy state of affairs.
And next week heralds an exciting development I've been anticipating for months (which I will share very soon), so altogether February has me in a whirl.