10th Anniversary-Stravaganza + First-Ever Giveaway

So the 10-year anniversary of ye olde blog came and went unheralded last March (I was too busy moving to Paris to notice), but in the spirit of better late than never, I thought I'd host a wee celebration now. As much as I'd like to have you all over for tea and eclairs, plane tickets are expensive this time of year (when are they not?), so instead we're having:

The Prize: a bead necklace from my color story collection + a Parisian postcard + delectable French bonbons + any other sparkly notions i can fit in the envelope.

To Enter: leave a comment telling me what your favorite book is, and if you're so inclined, what you love about it.

Details: open internationally. A random drawing will be held and the winner announced and notified at the end of September.

This isn't really a promotional sort of giveaway, so if you'd like to tweet/facebook/blog/skywrite about it, that's lovely and appreciated but not required. Mostly I'm hoping that you'll stop by and say hello --  I'd love to hear from old friends and get to know new ones even better.

Now, to properly commemorate Lilie Green's 10th anniversary, it is only fitting I do a top 10 list. So, after pouring through the archives, I present to you:

• 10. the sad tale of how i tried to file my taxes in japan 
• 9. the hardest $100 i ever earned
• 8. a day in the life of an English teacher
• 7. waxing poetic about the soundtrack of life
• 6. my 7th anniversary post (still applicable)
• 5. super-saturated photo-logue of tokyo
• 4. epic NYC post is epic
• 3. tooth-achingly frou frou, PINK, and alarmingly preoccupied with cake
• 2. firsts
• 1. and from all the way back in 2001, my stint as a kindergarten teacher in the japanese countryside

*a special mention for the sense and swoon-ability post, which is by far the most popular, and continues to receive a bajillion hits every month (that Jane Austen, hogging all my traffic)

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you'll continue to support my photo/travel/design/personal/can't-make-up-its-mind blog for several more years to come :)

l'atelier lundi: 7.28.11

yellow aquamarine & turquoise

After a dry spell of several months, I rediscovered my love for jewelry-making just two nights ago when an idea struck as I was rummaging through my trove of beads and gemstones.
Something about simple lines.
And pops of color.

prehnite & neon pink Japanese seed beads

Luxe gems strung all together and used up in one go instead of economically spread out among several different pieces.

red, orange, and yellow sapphire on silver chain

These flights of inspiration have become fewer and farther between, and since this just might be my last collection, I feel like celebrating the beauty of the stones, letting them speak for themselves.

L'Atelier Lundi: December 6, 2010

After a several-month long hiatus, I'm revisiting the L'Atelier Lundi series: a peek at what I'm currently working on.
This winter, my jewelry has taken a turn for a simpler, less-is-more aesthetic. Since the move back to California, I've spent many an afternoon combing the beach for little treasures, and the beauty of organic shapes like feathers and driftwood is compelling me lately. I am taking cues from the sand and ocean and sky for color stories. A pallet of soft grey labradorite, molten gold, a flash of plummy garnet. One brilliant blue crystal delicately accented with silver.
Field studies noted in stone and metal.

L'Atelier Lundi: July 26,2010

The Evie necklace; color palette inspired by the beautiful cover of Paranormalcy, a highly-anticipated YA novel coming out next month. Love that the design turned out almost exactly how I first imagined it, and am crazy about how prettily it hangs against the collarbone (kind of like those bead curtains from the 70's). But good grief the endless wire-wrapping has resulted in one extremely sore right thumb -- am not going to be able to make anything else until the throbbing pain subsides.
This is the first time I've ever taken color cues from a book cover, but it was a remarkably helpful jumping off point. A fun way to combine two of my great loves: YA novels and jewelry.

L'Atelier Lundi: July 5,2010

L'Atelier Lundi (so named because en français it has a more alliterative ring than "In the Studio Monday") is hopefully going to be a new weekly feature to share what I am currently working on.
Since summer began I have been enamored of making necklaces using hemp cord or silk thread in place of metal chain.  I first started using the thread in one color, but have since branched out to braids in complimentary hues.

In addition to the standard three-strand braid, I've fallen hard for the look of the nautical "rope-braid". Done in hemp, it is sturdy and cool to the touch, and makes me feel like I'm just one boat-neck, striped sweater away from being aboard some Mediterranean millionaire's yacht.

And lastly, beads strung and knotted directly on colorful thread is possibly my favorite technique. There is something soothing and meditative about the act of choosing beads and stringing them in an abstract pattern.

*A few of the pieces shown are available in the Etsy and 1000 Markets shoppes, and all will later be up at Daphne.

Summer Collection

After years of having to forgo jewelry every summer (my skin does not get along with metal when it gets hot), I finally hit upon a solution. Thread. Braided or wrapped around metal chain, it protects my skin and feels oh-so-light, even under the sweltering Florida sun.

I love the look of layered jewelry, and with these, I plan to wear like a hundred together in various lengths and colours (okay, maybe not a hundred, but at least three or five).

The necklaces will be available in my 1000 Markets and Etsy shops within the week, with bracelets and anklets to follow.

Inspiration & Jewels: 02.27.10

gemstones in every hue & Olivia Bee's winter queen

a sunlit moment from Maren Celest & a golden strand of carnelian and garnet

iridescent glass wrapped with silver & sensing-owl's green reverie

~ Bejeweled: Week 2 ~

Week two status update: 5.5 more pieces completed, with 38.5 more to go, and 18 days remaining (eek).

~ Month o' Jewels: Week One ~

Week One status update: 6 pieces completed, 44 more to go.
My favorite so far is the Monaco necklace because it was beaucoup fun adhering the eensy-teensy crystals with tweezers and this insane (not crazy) glue that spun tiny webs of stickiness all over my fingers.
And now, a break for hot cocoa, then back to work.

~ A Month of Jewels ~

I've decided to make December my own personal JewelryMakingMonth. After last month's NaNoWriMo (which I did not win) I wanted a new challenge. So my goal is to make 50 new pieces by Decmeber 31st. This seems like a sufficiently high number -- more than my personal best, but not crazy unattainable, and takes into account that this month comes with its fair share of distractions. I will try to post a photo update of my new pieces each week, if not daily.

Wish me luck!

~ Kind of Blue ~

Working on my winter collection, I am dipping into a palette of deep blues, cool greys, and midnight black.


Trying to capture that icy, brilliant clarity of the winter night sky, the snow covering the pavement, your breath crystallizing in the air.

I have a playlist for my current NaNo novel, but also one for my jewelry as well. If this necklace were a song, it would be No Air.

Collection No.5

I spent last month immersed in a stack of Mary Stewart paperbacks set in exotic locales, and as a result was left with a burning desire to roam the hills of Grecian island villages and swim in the sparkling waters of the Aegean sea.
It was inevitable that as I sat at my worktable, my daydreams would work their way out through my fingertips, and into the stones and metals I was working with.

This collection is already wending its way to Japan, and will be available at Daphne later this month.
In the meantime I've begun amassing gemstones and materials for the next set -- citrus-y hues of carnelian, ocean blues of apatite, and golden cognac quartz. My mind is still full of bright, hot landscapes, ancient architecture, and the mythological gods still present just under the surface of modern life.

Gems Galore

I've been happily tucked away in my workspace, busy dreaming up new designs for Daphne collection #4. This month's shipment of gems are particularly juicy and vibrant, so I want to keep the layout uncomplicated, to showcase the beauty of the stone. Because each piece is light and simple, I love to layer them all together and revel in the decadence of color.

Good Things Come in Mint Green

1. Because you can't have nightmares on an empty stomach..., 2. dream a little dream of me.,
3. Peruvian opals, 4. 76.adam_hayes

We have skipped right over Spring and jumped headlong into Summer here, and my thoughts turn towards anything that offers cool refreshment. One can't exactly spend all day eating mint chocolate chip ice cream, so with my ceiling fan on high and a cold glass of Pellegrino beside me, I went in search of the visual equivalent.

* Mint ice cream is as nice to look at as it is to taste.
* I have a major schoolgirl crush on the Diana+ camera. That thing is adorable.
* Peruvian blue opals are my current favorite gemstone. Cannot get enough of that milky smooth polish and dreamy colour. (This particular necklace is going in my 3rd collection for Daphne.)
* A lovely sentiment expressed in simple but appealing design. I know exactly which day I'd have to live over again if I could. Do you?

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.

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.

A Jewelry Manifesto

I wrote the manifesto below as an introduction for my new shop on 1000 Markets. I was inspired by the one I found on Jonathan Adler's site and found as I was writing it that there are plenty of things I believe in. Next perhaps I should attempt a Manifesto for Life.

1. where my heart lies..., 2. RING COLLECTION 06, 3. Audrey Hepburn,

4. Babouche, 5. Ascot - Pretty in pink, 6. Rosette Nebula

I believe jewelry is a celebration of beauty.

I believe every woman should own a signature piece.

I believe in the power of colour to cheer you up. Especially pink.

I believe that if we are stardust we should sparkle more.

I believe gemstones have less calories than cupcakes.

I believe in Moroccan slippers glittering with sequins.

I believe you can't go wrong emulating Audrey Hepburn.

I believe in dressing up old jeans with the right pair of hoops.

I believe you know what you want to wear better than Vogue does.

I believe in the preppy perfection of a crisp white shirt.

I believe nature is an infinite design resource.

I believe you deserve a treat even if you haven't been good.

I believe God made diamonds for the same reason They made daffodils and butterflies, which has everything to do with joy and nothing to do with status.

I believe in huge, frothy hats at Ascot races.

I believe everyone looks good in gold.

I believe handmade = made with love.

I believe in longevity, not trends.

I believe in comfort.

I believe in unapologetic decadence.

Winter Wonderland Collection

My favorite season is fast approaching. I've already begun putting a splash of Pumpkin Spice Eggnog in my morning coffee, and we went out and bought the seasonal Pumpkin Pie ice cream the second Fresh Market started carrying it again.
I love autumnal flavours: pumpkin, nutmeg, maple, cinnamon -- there is something nostalgic about them, or maybe it's fall itself that's a nostalgic time, a time of transition.

And then before you realize it, winter is here (well not here, because hello this is Florida and it's always summer, but you know what I mean) and it's time for the scent of pine trees and mint and cranberries and eggnog.

This year I'm celebrating the season with a mini-collection for my shop. A glittery, wintry, woodland-inspired concoction of ribbons and crystals and golden charms...
I love each piece but the white reindeer aglow with rhinestones is almost magically alluring. I don't know if I can bear to part with him!

Custom Orders

Recently I've had a run of custom orders in my jewelry shop. Personally, I adore doing these. It is nice to realize someone else's artistic vision -- to be the inspiration and source through which their imagination creates something tangible.
And this most recent request: earrings to be worn on that most special of special occasions, that last little bit of sparkle added to a magical ensemble, the icing on the cake. For me, as a jewelry designer there is no higher honour than that.