Green Beach Glass and Dolphin FIligree Pendant

76.50 USD, by SimplyLeilani



from Etsy http://www.etsy.com/listing/115519983

via IFTTT

Mele Kalikimaka from Simply Leilani!

Hope your day is filled with peace, happiness, and good food, wherever you are!
 Please visit my Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

An Interesting Find at the Pembroke Mall Christmas Craft Fair

If there's one thing I've learned this month, it's that you need to talk to the other craft fair vendors about which shows are "good" and which ones are not.  There was a large one at Pembroke Mall this past weekend, which everyone was talking about.  It was a two day fair.  I chose to do smaller craft show at Red Mill Elementary School and watch the Army-Navy game on Saturday, then check out the larger show on Sunday.

I took my daughter with me and we went in search of gifts for the boys.  I won't tell you what we got them just yet, but there were tons of vendors.  Most were reselling things they either bought wholesale or via direct marketing companies (IE Tupperware, Avon, etc.)  I did, however, come upon a lady who was selling potholders and other sewn goodies.  We started talking to her because she had DumDums, which is like a magnet for little kids.  Anyway, in a corner of her table, she had a display of really awesome silver jewelry, each piece under $10.  WAAAAY underpriced.  Turns out, her father in law was a silversmith and when he passed, the inventory was split among the grandchildren.  The work was breathtaking and I would've snapped up several pieces for study and inspiration.  Of course, she only took cash and this was after we'd bought our gifts, so I could only pick one.

Although this is a design and size I would never wear, I very much admire the delicate work that went into this piece.  Every last part of this ring was made by hand, and I most definitely would have "burned through" the delicate scroll work.  Not to mention, the stones are of excellent quality- peridot, garnet, and rutilated quartz.  Honestly, I didn't realize the quartz was rutilated until I had a chance to see it in the sun.  There were some pretty spectacular bails and bezels, and more valuable stones in some of the other pieces... however, the work in this piece shows a lot of patience and confidence.  It's easy to take a proverbial "sledgehammer" when silversmithing by using too much solder and blasting it with the torch, "just to be sure the joints are really joined," and then there is knowing that you really did cut that jumpring exactly the right size and that the joint is strong.

I'm getting there.

I just need to remember to be patient.

Please visit our Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

Behind the Scenes: Branding and packaging

In case you were wondering, in addition to making the jewelry, I also design and produce all the lovely packaging that goes with your purchase.  I realize packaging tends to be an afterthought to customers, and really, it should be- however, it is important to me...  

There is an actual design process (beyond simply picking what is aesthetically pleasing).  It's time consuming, but having the flexibility to design packaging around the product not only looks better, but helps keep costs down by minimizing shipping weights and protecting your purchase.

  

I use my lovely Silhouette Cameo to make many of the pendant and earring hang cards, as well as all the stickers.  (I made my own print and cut files for each type of jewelry.)  Some of it gets printed professionally (using Vistaprint or Zazzle), but all of it is designed by me and gets some sort of handmade touch prior, whether punching holes, cutting, and/or folding by hand.  

When possible, I purchase materials (cardstock, merchandise bags, tissue paper, etc.) that are at least partially made of recycled products.  My volume is small compared to most corporations, but I figure every little bit helps.

Much of what goes into designing the jewelry and packaging is based on customer feedback, so please know that if you ever have an issue, I will do my best to resolve it to your satisfaction... It's extremely helpful to know whether or not I'm on the right track.  If process improvements can be implemented, I'll at least try it out.  (That's one thing I love about running my own business.  Try to implement a process improvement in the military based on a single piece of feedback when you're middle management and see how long it takes!)

 Please visit my Etsy store forHawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

Virginia Beach Christmas Market Finds

This past weekend, I got the kids out of the house and taking them to the Christmas Market at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.  The little one was just happy to get out of the house.  The older one was enticed by the promise of food items.  I was hoping to find a few things with some local flavor to bring back to the ohana when we head back later this month.  The setup reminded me of the Count Fair I grew up going to every year.  We didn't have anything equivalent on Oahu, so my kids were a bit surprised to see rows of exhibitors.  I could tell by the look on their faces that I had about an hour to wander around.

The first stop we made was to grab a sample from Bater Chocolates.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  The fillings were AWESOME.  (And they were nice enough to hand us enough chocolate for the kids, who were more interested in the chocolate wafer than in the fillings.)  Yummmmmmmmmm.

We also stopped to talk to a wood turner who makes ingenious wooden catapults and crossbows.  Since it was late on the last day of the event, he was pretty low on inventory so I got a card.  I definitely plan on picking up some of Sir Launch Alot's  awesome toys to bring to Hawaii.  After checking out their website I thought it was HILARIOUS that in addition to making catapults, pirate pistols, and other cool toys, they also make dressed up rats to launch.  Gotta love people who enjoy creating new things.

The first purchase of the day was a nifty little "planet sculpture" from One Million Roses.  (I wasn't able to find their website.)  Both kids are fascinated by this little contraption... which is about impossible to find when you have a 9 year age gap and their very divergent personalities.  As I do some wire wrapping in my jewelry designs, I can definitely appreciate the work and patience that goes into making one of these contraptions.

The next purchase was a pair of adorable pink fleece Kitten Mittens made by 32 Degrees.  They were pretty expensive but the guy in the booth let me inspect the pair pretty thoroughly.  They're well made (in addition to being cute) and even though I am pretty good at sewing, I quickly recognized that if *I* made her a pair of mittens it would be spring by the time she actually had any.  (I'd show you a picture but she dropped one at day care yesterday.  Cue meltdown.)

After that, my daughter went on a bit of a bender, wanting clippies, picking up a stretchy bracelet with HUGE acrylic beads... my crafty mom persona took over and I was like, OMG HOW MANY CLIPPIES AND BOWS HAVE I MADE YOU THAT YOU REFUSE TO WEAR????  And I AM NOT PAYING THAT KIND OF MONEY FOR A STRETCHY BRACELET!!!!  Meanwhile, my food oriented teen aged son was getting discouraged because he was drawn to several booths in search of samples only to discover they were gourmet dog treats.  Anyway, after a few no's, I could tell the natives were getting restless, so I attempted to bribe them with a bag of caramel pop corn from Jody's Gourmet Popcorn.  We see them quite regularly over at Hunt Club Farm, and I like the product.  One picked a candy coated popcorn, the other picked kettle corn... I got the caramel corn (which I already scarfed down yesterday while working on new Etsy listings).  That bought me about 10 minutes.  We stopped to look at some other jewelry artists.  Although my own skill level is pretty high, I'm at the point where I have so much material on hand that I really don't WANT to make everything I want.  In particular, I really enjoyed meeting the folks behind Mystic Silver Glass, whose work included some terrific lamp worked beads, fused dichroic glass and hand blown glass beads made from recycled wine bottles... and tons of silver work, which you know I love and appreciate!  Anyway, the work was beautiful and I totally admire the work that goes into using recycled materials, but the kids were getting restless.  I took a card and will keep an eye on their website for some of their dichroic glass earrings.

So that's what I managed to see and do in 50 minutes at the Virginia Beach Christmas Market.  I know none of these vendors and did not receive any compensation or price breaks in exchange for a review.  In all honesty, I mostly wrote this blog entry so I'd be able to find these vendors again when I've made a decision on what goodies to have shipped to Hawaii so I don't have to carry it on the plane.  What, you thought this was for your benefit?  :)  Just kidding.

Please visit our Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

Holiday Craft Fair Schedule

You can find Simply Leilani at the following craft fairs in the Hampton Roads area this month:

07 December: Strawbridge Elementary School PTA Craft Fair

12-13 December: Santa's Attic, Hampton City Hall

14 December: Red Mill Elementary School PTA Craft Fair

Hope to see you there!

Please visit our Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

Marshmallow and Fudge Stripe Cookie Pilgrim Hats

Here's a quick and easy Thanksgiving dessert you can make with the kids!

Supplies:
24 Regular sized marshmallows
1 box of 24 fudge striped cookies (or any cookie that is chocolate coated on one side)
1 cup of chocolate for melting (chips or chunks work well)
1 skewer or chopstick per person
yellow icing (I found Wilton's icing writer at Michael's for about $3)
butter knife (optional)
waxed paper, parchment paper, or some other smooth surface

Directions:
First, melt the chocolate in a small dish.  This is probably the trickiest step- take your time and use low heat.  I did it by boiling some water in a small saucepan on the stove, then setting the dish in hot water.  You cannot apply heat from the stove or microwave oven directly to chocolate or it will burn.  If you set a smaller dish in hot water, do not let water get into the melted chocolate, or it will turn rock hard.  Stir occasionally.  When ready, the consistency will be similar to chocolate pudding or Nutella.

Use one of the sticks to dip the marshmallows in the chocolate.  I used a butter knife to smooth the chocolate at the bottom and around the sides of the marshmallow.  Be sure to get at least a tiny bit of chocolate on the top... we're going to flip these over in the next step and that little bit of chocolate will act as the glue.

Once the marshmallow is covered, flip it over.  Thread the stick through the hole in the middle of the cookie.  Pull the stick out and set the hats aside on the waxed paper to dry/cool.

Once the chocolate is hard, use the yellow icing to draw the buckle onto the hats, and voila!

Please visit our Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

The Bahrain Tour... MWR version

Most of my friends already know this, but I spent 10 months deployed to Bahrain this year.  It was a lot of hard work, but I won't bore you with that part.  Unlike being on a ship (as with my previous deployments), I got to go on liberty every night.  Granted, sometimes I was at work until 10pm at night (or later), and who really wants to ride their bicycle home through a not very nice part of town at that hour, but I digress.  Anyway, upon arrival, I had to go through two separate indoctrination processes- one for the base and one for the command... this was a bit annoying as I'd already spent months doing paperwork, completing online training sessions, and listening to death by powerpoint lectures while preparing to mobilize.  One perk of base indoc was the MWR led tour of Bahrain.  It used to be free but I think you have to pay $35 now, due to budget cuts.  It's still a good deal- anyone entitled to MWR benefits can buy a ticket.  (So if you're visiting a service member you can buy a ticket for this tour!)  Bring $10 for lunch and snacks along the way.

If your tour guide is smart, your first stop will be Bahrain Fort.  It's a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Apparently, Bahrain has been a major hub for trade in the Arabian Gulf since the beginning of civilization.  Anyway, it's basically a city built on a city, going back thousands of years- which is pretty cool when you live in a country that's only been a country for 237 years.  There is a sidewalk up the hill to the fort, but it is oppressively hot from about March through October (even in the shade), so make sure you have water and sunscreen.  If you have small children, be ready to carry them.  There is an air conditioned visitors' center adjacent to the parking lot.  You really don't want to be here later than 10am during the hot months.

After that, we went to the Al Fateh Grand Mosque.  It's the largest mosque in Bahrain (most mosques are quite small- men are expected to go to the mosque several times a day to pray, so there's one in every neighborhood).  This mosque is relatively young (built in the late 80's) but an interesting mix of traditional and modern architectural concepts from around the world.  This was my first trip into a mosque, as most do not allow visitors.  Since I am female, I was expected to cover my hair, as well as my body to my wrists and ankles.  At this mosque, women are expected to wear an abaya (the loose fitting dress).  Men are not required to cover their hair or arms, but must wear long pants.

 

The next stop was the King's camel farm.  If you're not used to livestock, brace yourself for the smell.  There are a lot of camels.  You can feed and pet them, and if you luck out, sometimes you can find someone willing to let you (and your family) sit on one long enough to pose for a picture.

The first time I went, I didn't know about sitting on the camels... so I had to brave the smell and go back a second time.   

  

The next stop for us was the causeway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.  This is as close as I'll ever be to Saudi Arabia.  (I hope.)

We got a break for lunch, and then it was off to the National Museum.  What can I say, it's a museum!  Tons of history about the Dilmun era through modern Bahrain.

There is a big to-do in the museum about finding oil in Bahrain.  What they neglect to mention is that Bahrain used to have lush vegetation until they salted the water table while drilling for oil.  Anyway, here's the Buick the King drove out to see the first oil well.  

The gift shop is definitely a tourist trap- you can buy most of what you see there out in the souk for much less.  However, the little cafe is quite reasonably priced, with excellent pastries and coffee.  Don't forget to take a peek at the sculptures outside.  (You can usually get in and out through the cafe veranda.)  During the cooler months, they host swank events outside the museum, by the water.  Gorgeous view, isn't it?

Of course, there are other things you should do if you're spending any amount of time in Bahrain, but it's pretty good to hit these highlights all in one day and to have reliable transportation for only $35.

Please visit our Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

Replacing the belt on the Lortone 3A

Ok, it's been a while.  Long enough for me to return from Bahrain, but we'll catch up on that later.  It's craft fair season and I rely on my trusty ole Lortone 3A to polish my creations.  It hasn't been working very well for a while, but I've been making do until I got back Stateside.  Come to find out, I didn't need to, because I was able to snag this 2 pack of Replacement Drive Belts for my Lortone 3A Tumbler on Amazon.  It arrived in 2 days (yay, Amazon Prime) and works like a champ.  But anyway, I digress.  If you use a Lortone 3A, at some point you will need to adjust the belt.  It's pretty simple, just loosen those nuts and push them from left to right, and tighten them back down.  This works because it adds tension to the belt that drives the rods that turn and spin your tumbler barrel.  (Personally, I think this is pretty ingenious- especially since replacement belts are not cheap!)

But, eventually, your belt will wear out and you'll have to replace it.  It's very simple.  How simple, you ask?  So simple even a political science major can do it!  As long as you have a phillips head screwdriver.

First step, slide those 3 nuts (photos above) back over to the left.  You want to reduce tension on the belt so you can remove it.

Next, remove the 4 screws that anchor the blue cover to the rest of the tumbler and lift off the cover.

Don't forget this one!

Then, remove the belt.  In my opinion, it works better if you unhook it from the smooth wheel, then over the fan blades.  Be careful not to catch or bend the blades with the belt.

Replace the old belt with the new one by gently looping it over the fan, setting it into the groove, and gently placing around the wheel- essentially the reverse motion of how you removed it.  Just make sure the belt is laying in the grooves.

As you can see below, the old belt is a bit stretched out.  The newer one works much better.

Replace the cover and screws, and voila!  Off you go!


Please visit our Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

Marhaba!

It's been 2 and a half months, but the shop is open for business!  I didn't expect it to take this long.  I packed up and shipped almost all of my inventory plus a lot of supplies and it took less than a week to arrive.  I found a few places that supply butane and ordered new (read: empty) torches.  I've also managed to successfully source silver and gold supplies, so I'm confident that I have everything I need.

However, it took five weeks for me to move out of the hotel and in that time, I've more or less become inundated at work.  Plus, with the internet connection speed out here being subpar, it's been interesting trying to keep up with friends, classwork (yes, I'm crazy- signed up for a 6 month Project Management Certification program AND another elective toward my Masters')  Interestingly, it takes almost twice as long for stuff to get shipped back Stateside as it does to arrive.  Not really sure why that is.

But anyway, I have a workspace set up, my inventory unpacked, and am looking forward to the stress relief that is soldering!  My production line will be somewhat limited, mostly due to time constraints... so right now it'll be limited to ready to ship items and double infinity in a variety of sizes and finishes.

Shipping times will be a LOT longer and my fancy dancy branded packaging will be minimal, but I hope that people won't mind too much.   Thanks for sticking with me through this move!

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of Hawaiian beach glass, upcycled accessories and double infinity jewelry!

Aloha a hui hou!

Pretty much everyone knows what "aloha" means so I won't explain that, but "a hui hou" means "until we meet again."  The time has come to close up shop and finish up my final preparations to mobilize.  Part of that means putting the shop in "vacation mode" indefinitely.  Fortunately, the job I will be performing is not particularly hazardous, although I do expect to work very hard... Therefore, I am bringing along as much as possible so I can continue to make jewelry as a creative outlet in whatever spare time I manage to find.  Once I get settled where I'm going, I will make a determination on whether or not to reopen... and which items to offer, based on whatever equipment/tools survive the trip and what supplies I'm able to procure.  Hopefully it won't take too long.  But until then, take care!

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and double infinity jewelry!