Inspiration is everywhere, even in a nut!

While in Hawaii, I of course found a bead shop to check out! I was hoping to find beads native from the island. I came across two at Kathleen's Creation's in Hawi that will be fun to incorporate into jewelry designs.

The first one, a mungumbo seed is a small grey seed with a soft velvety texture. I first saw this seed in a bracelet that was being sold at the L. Zeidman Gallery in Hawi. My husband surprised me with the bracelet later that evening before we went out for dinner! I purchased ten of these seeds at the shop not knowing that my husband had went back to the gallery to buy the bracelet.

So now I will either make a necklace or earrings, or both, to match it!

The second find is a black and white kukui nut. I didn't have any ideas jump into my mind immediately upon seeing these, but they were so visually interesting that I had to purchase a few!

Inspired by Hawaii

My husband and I just returned from a vacation on Hawaii's Big Island. From lava rock landscapes, to rain forests, hiking into the crater of a volcano, swimming with sea turtles and looking down at the clouds from 13,796 feet above sea level. It was a very adventurous vacation. I was inspired by the abundant beauty that the island offered...

We stayed at the Waikoloa Resort-it was paradise! The view from our room.

One of the sea turtles that swam past us. Most amazing experience ever!

 One of the many birds that greeted us each morning.

Coffee plant at Greenwell Coffee Farms in Kona.

Beautiful coral that is meant to be seen and not harvested or touched!

Life starts new again inside the crevice of a volcano crater. 

No soil, just lava rock and nature working together.

Exploring the volcanic landscape that Pele, goddess of fire created; Kilauea Crater.

Beautiful plants in the rain forest.

Making our way up Mauna Kea summit.

Looking down at the clouds from 13,796 feet, atop Mauna Kea. Beautiful!

HotFlash GlassWorks

Last weekend at the Arts and Music Festival in Annapolis, I had the honor of meeting a talented local lampwork artist named Patti Tolley Parrish of HotFlash GlassWorks.

Just look at these treasures! Prices of her beads range from $3-$20

Patti has been creating lampworked beads for two years. She works a full time job during the week, so she spends most nights and weekends creating gorgeous glass beads. Her favorite glass to work with is Dark Clio made by Double Helix GlassWorks. "Its loaded with silver and when layered with other colors and reduced, you can get some amazing hot pink and watermelon colors that are hard to come by in hot glass". She is also partial to Zimmerman Purple Rose (commonly known as Z-99 to the lampwork community). She loves using Pale Aqua transparent and and etches it to resemble sea glass. 

She also creates a number of items with her beads including earrings, bracelets, pendants, wine bottle stoppers, magnifying glasses, and antique skeleton keys with lampwork done directly on them.

Patti is working on filling her Etsy shop with her creations. To see more of her work or to contact her, check out HotFlash GlassWorks.