My little JList haul...

I have ordered some goodies from my favourite Japanese supplier, JList! They arrived today and I am super-pleased...

Matcha diet Coke... Probably the best diet Coke ever! The subtle matcha (green tea) taste makes it a must-drink for Summer. This diet Coke even tastes less sweet than normal, and much nicer with that refreshing hint of green tea. I only ordered two bottles to try and will have to get some more:

A gift for my Mother... It's a banana holder! She always complained that the bananas she brings to her shop get all mushy and bruised on the way... This is a cool, albeit a bit weird, little gadget for protecting bananas "in motion":

And finally, we got a present for our new house and these oh-so hot Irish Summer days (ha ha...). This is a katori buta, a ceramic pig where you burn mosquito coils inside. You can hang it to a tree or leave it outside in a Summer day and the burning coils (pretty much like incense, that is) will keep the nasty biting bugs at bay. It looks very cute and is a very traditional object:

My Russian lacquer boxes...

I love Russian lacquer work, and since I arrived to Dublin, I got some here and there, but mostly Matrioshka. I have only four boxes, though, and I think they are quite pretty. My Mom and Mark gave me one each and, when we visited Prague, I bought two more in Celetná. It is not really like I collect them, since I have only those few, and I just get them when it happens to be, anyway. Or when people give me them as gifts. I also have two books on the subject, from an American collector. Unfortunately, I don't have their names right now, since they have been packed already (we are moving in 2 weeks!).

Here they are...

This 1st box was given to me by my Mother. It is an old one, from 1964-1965. It still has the certificate above, which says:

Artistic Foundation of RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic)

Palekh division of the Artistic Foundation of RSFSR

Material - papier-mache

Number of the work - 1964

Theme of the painting - Scarlet Flower

Author - Televinova

Name of the article - ??? (this abbreviation is not clear)

Size - 10 x 10 cm

Quality - Highest

Article of the AF - 193

Price - 9.10

Date - March 23 1965

The above box, depicting a scene of the Fire Bird, was given to me by Mark. I am not sure if he brought it from New York, or bought it here in Dublin. It' s a lovely two-tiered one, with a little mirror inside.

When I saw this one in a lovely shop in Celetná, I could not resist. I was mesmerised with the amazing transparency of the veils and details of the brocaded dresses. I am not sure if it depicts any scenes of a fairy tale, or if it's just a portrait of two young ladies.

Lastly, some pictures of my remaining box, with a scene from the Russian fairy tale "The Gold Fish", which is not quite the gold fish of our imagination, but a large, regal sturgeon. This is another lovely box bought in the same shop in Celetná, with very bright, vivid colours.

My very own Shikon no Tama...

This month I have decided to celebrate Inuyasha's last anime series and last manga books. Yes, it will be over. I will miss it a lot, for I am a big fan of Rumiko Takahashi's work, and especially Inuyasha that I have followed for some years already. This week I will order the last DVD box (series VII). As for the books, I am not sure where it stands so far, and how many more volumes are expected.

Since it's celebration time, and the last shards are to be found soon, I have decided to make my own Shikon jewel. Thus, the name of the piece is simply Shikon no Tama (Jewel of the Four Souls), a globe of light composed by these 4 principles (=souls):

- Courage,
- Wisdom,
- Friendship,
- Love.

I will not go into the plot details though, since it would take a long time. At any rate, if you found this post today, it's probably because you already know Inuyasha anyway! My version of the jewel is a bit elaborate perhaps, in comparison with the original artwork by Takahashi-san. It pretty much complies with my own style of jewellery-making: a bit "baroque" perhaps, mixing several materials and trying to convey a meaning, rather than the object "per se". Thus, if you find that it's not at all like the original Shikon (and most certainly it isn't), please bear in mind that it is simply the result of my own personal interpretation.

Here is my Shikon then:

The following materials have been used:

- One round hand blown Murano glass sphere with gold foil;
- Two faceted Czech crystals surrounding it, with Aurora Borealis coating;
- Several Swarovski bicones and two small pendants in different shades of topaz;
- Several tourmaline chips in shades of forest green, aqua, yellow and pink;
- Several vintage Swarovski molted champagne pearls;
- Small glass pearls in deep green that I brought from Prague last month;
- Small round Czech fire golden beads;
- Toggle gold-plated Bali clasp, all threaded on a metallic champagne wire.

To have a better look at the pictures next, please don't forget to click on the thumbnails to magnify:


Two close-ups of the Bali toggle clasp. The small Czech fire beads and dark green pearls can also be seen.


Two pictures showing close-ups of the Murano focal bead and the faceted Czech crystals, along with other various elements...


The above photos show detailed views of the Swarovski regular and top-drilled bicones, and also the small pearls, Czech fire golden beads and vintage Swarovski pearls. These are quite old, but still have an amazing shine and smooth texture.


These pictures display a nice view of the faceted Czech crystals, as well as some of the bicones and pearls. I have decided to include them because I really like the golden reflections and iridescence generated by the AB coating and facets. A nice play of light.


These three shots focus on the Swarovski vintage pearls. They measure 10mm each. I have included tourmaline chips between them, which made the threading process a bit harder and longer since the holes are too small, as are the chips of course (the smaller they are, the harder it gets to even hold them). Tourmalines are quite expensive when compared to other minerals, but do have a wonderful translucence. The colours (in this case yellow/amber, pink, dark and aqua green) go really well together - to my surprise, I must say!


More detailed shots of the tourmaline chips... and, below, two more views of the piece:

Sadness

I have been thinking a lot about the missing plane AF447. It is like a bad dream. We are on that flight a lot when coming back from Rio. I am very sad, and cannot even sleep very well thinking about it. At the same time, I am following the Brazilian newspapers for any news on the searches. I don't even know what to say...

Tsukimi necklace

I made this necklace this week, by Sunday or Monday. I called it "Tsukimi", which, in Japanese, means "viewing the Moon". It uses bluish-gray colours and seems a bit different from my previous work, since I use no focal beads or pendants. Still symmetrical though, but a continuous line of several Swarovski elements, gemstones and glass beads (that I brought from Prague).

It is a "lunar" piece, due to the choice of cool hues that reminded me of the surface of the Moon, thus, its name "Tsukimi".


For this piece I have used:

- Tibetan silver hook clasp;
- Several kyanite round gemstones;
- Several chalcedony round beads;
- Swarovski elements in different shades of blue: cubes and bicones of different sizes;
- Several Czech glass glazed beads in bluish-gray;
- Two small fluorite beads near the clasp.

Some details of the above components to follow...


The 1st picture shows a detail of the silver clasp, the two small fluorites I used close to it, the lovely light blue milky chalcedony stones, along with some Swarovski bicones and a Czech glass bead. Second shot shows the Czech beads in detail, as well as two sizes of Swarovski cubes interspersed with some small bicones. Finally, the 3rd picture shows the string of beads: kyanites, chalcedonies, Czech glass beads and Swarovski elements, quite a simple structure. The necklace itself, since it is composed of mostly minerals, is quite heavy and I had to use a sturdier and thicker Beadalon wire, which, due to its gauge, is not quite easy to work with (the beads seem to "slip" though them a bit too easily, and crimping is very hard since the surface is so smooth and slippery). I much prefer the lighter, thinner wires due to their flexibility and slightly rougher texture.


Another detail of the gemstones, Czech beads and lovely Swarovski elements with an AB coating. Chalcedony is the stone with the light blue tint and milky texture. Kyanite is the dark blue one, a sapphire-like shade of blue almost, very vitreous and speckled with silver/metallic streaks.


Kyanites and chalcedonies in detail once again, and a nice close-up of one kyanite bead, a small fluorite with its pale green and purple streaks, and one of the small Swarovski cubes.


I love the AB effect on the aquamarine coloured cubes (larger ones). The kyanites are also splendid, but unfortunately I have ran out of them!

Some more views of Tsukimi:

Lovely Prague - Part 1...

We arrived from Prague last week. We went there for 5 days, since Mark ran the Prague Marathon for the 1st time.

It easily became one of my favourite cities. I love its cleanliness, the way everything works, and how calm the traffic is. People seem relaxed there. The shops (at least in the old town) stay open until late, and you can get some really nice ice cream and lovely drinks and food.

Also, that mix of Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau is absolutely enchanting, and very very unique.

My favourite walks must be the ones we took in the Josefov, the Jewish quarter area. Absolutely magical.

But tonight, I just want to post some curious pictures we took in several different places... Please click on the thumbnails to magnify them.

Puppet shop near the Castle! It is indeed a magic town...

Mark and friend, before going for a stroll in the Castle...

I call it the "Fawlty Towers", although it is a wonderful building with amazing design...

Virgin Mary in a cage...

Not even statues seem to be free of cellulitis these days...

Kafka in Josefov...

Golem's attic in the Altneu synagogue...

Retro Pepsi ad!

Sausages!

A saint in cage. This time in Charles Bridge. Funniest thing was some parents with a little child who insisted in pushing the kid into those bars. Kid was scared to death (even I was), but the oh-so-sensitive parents did not rest until they got a picture of him, crying his lungs out...

Toys, toys and more toys! This is a very cute video! Toy shop in Celetna...

The Murasaki necklace...

Another Japan-inspired piece. Murasaki is the name of the colour "purple" in Japanese. There are several types of Murasaki shades and tints, based on different pigments and flowers. But the generic term for purple is simply "murasaki":

But Murasaki is also a woman, a writer, Lady Murasaki Shikibu. Her name, or rather pseudonym, refers to the character she has created for her book "Genji Monogatari" ("Tales of Genji"), written some time in the Xth Century Heian period and probably before she joined the imperial court as a maid of honour. She is also contemporary of Lady Shonagon, who was the inspiration for my Hana Kotoba necklace. Two formidable ladies and, indeed, very inspiring.

For this necklace I have used:

- One light brass oval bead as the focal point;
- Several dark purple cloisonnée beads with gold wire;
- Several purple round jade beads;
- Czech fire polished small "heavy metal" beads;
- Antique gold plated Tibetan spacers,
- Stardust small round spacers;
- Several Swarovski bicones in shades of purple and gold, and in different sizes;
- Antique gold plated Tibetan hook clasp.

Details next...


A close-up of the Tibetan antiqued gold clasp and stardust beads. On the second picture, we can see the Czech fire faceted beads in those lovely "heavy metal" shades, along with the Chinese deep purple cloisonée beads and some Swarovski elements. The 3rd picture is pretty much the same, under a dimmed light.


More details of the cloisonnée beads on the 1st picture, and also the jade beads, some Swarovski bicones and Tibetan lantern spacers. I decided to show the other picture because I love the light reflections forming little stars on the faceted Czech fire beads!


Close-up of the jade beads and another shot of the cloisonnées. The Swarovski bicones are shown in full force, very shiny and with a lovely AB2X coating. Please don't forget to click on the images to see it magnified though!


Now, on the 1st picture another close-up of the purple jade beads, but also the Swarovski Golden Aurum bicones in detail. This effect is nowadays a bit hard to find, but I managed to procure some for my beading needs! The second picture is just a funny one. If you click on it, you will clearly see my camera reflected in the bicone, and you can even read the word "LENS" on it, like the bicone has been "printed"! I liked that!

The Benifuji necklace...

This latest necklace is all about colour experimentation. This week I (re)started to study a bit of Japanese through colours. I mean, Japanese names of traditional colours: colours of nature, different flower shades, leaves, stones, and colours for most aspects of life.

Benifuji is a pale wisteria purple. The name means "crimson wisteria", but may also refer to the wonderful sight of Mount Fuji at sunset. As a colour, it is pale purple, with red/pink undertones. A "warmer" shade of purple, rather than than the usual cooler, bluish tinges that we associate to the colour.

You may visit the NHK blog, which was also an inspiration for this piece. On this blog - exclusively dedicated to Mount Fuji - you will see different views of Fuji Sama at different times of the year by wonderful photographers. A gem of a blog, really, and more than worth a visit.

As a flower, the wisteria (fuji) looks like a flowy cascade of purple petals (look at it here), and I tried to portray that using two strands of crystals, amethysts and Chinese cloisonnée beads. Here is the result:


The materials are:

- Several Chinese cloisonnée oval beads in rosy lilac, light purple with silver threads;
- Several medium light Brazilian amethyst beads;
- Swarovski bicones in different sheades of purple and various sizes and effects;
- Tiny silver-plated and blackened silver ball spacers;
- Two silver-plated rice-shaped beads and four Tibetan silver round spacers;
- One double-strand Swarovski clasp with clear crystal embedded.

Some details next...


Close-up of the silver-plated Swarovski clasp, clipping style, and also the lovely Brazilian amethyst beads. These are quite unusual, due to their light, pale tint and exceptional transparency. In Japanese, amethysts are very appropriately called "murasakizuishou" (from Murasaki = Purple and Suishou = Crystal, thus "Purple Crystal").


A detail of the smooth Chinese cloisonnée beads with silver thread and some of the Swarovski lilac bicones I used between beads. On the 2nd picture, more Swarovski bicones in other violet colours and effects, along with the silver-plated balls and Tibetan spacers used.
My only complaint about working with this kind of cloisonnée beads is that they are hollow, not drilled like a regular solid bead. So, being hollow makes it harder to string it, for sometimes the wire gets "lost" inside the bead and it takes some time for me to find the way out! I may take from 2 seconds to 5 minutes to string one single bead like that! I love cloisonnée, but dread them at the same time.

The Tanabata necklace...

I made another necklace today. The idea for it came from the Japanese Star festival, celebrated around July 7th and derived from the Chinese festival called Qi Xi - or "the night of sevens".

The idea of a Tanabata necklace came from a lovely Swarovski teardrop faceted bead I had. Unfortunately, I only had one, then I had to wait to buy the 2nd bead, just like the legend behind the festival, which celebrates the meeting of two celestial lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, namely the stars Vega and Altair, respectively. These star-doomed lovers are allowed to meet only on the 7th evening of the 7th month, which very roughly would correspond to the 7th of July, always bearing in mind the date varies due to the Japanese calendar being lunisolar. So, it may happen some time between July and August of our Gregorian calendar.

Tanabata is a time for encounters, and wishes and vows to be written and hung onto bamboo plants or set afloat in the river, and even burnt on festive fires the night of the festival or the day after. It's lights, and that's why I have selected only Swarovski crystals that somehow resemble a night, starry sky on Summer time.

Here is my own view of Tanabata, a portable "festival" to be worn around your neck:


I have used:

- Two Swarovski 6002 disco ball faceted beads representing the two lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi, in clear AB coating;
- Three Swarovski star beads in Crystal Silver Shade, representing the Milky Way, or the stars making their way between the lovers;
- Several Swarovski bicones in five to six different shades of silver and blues;
- Ten Swarovski crystal pearls in light grey and different sizes;
- Two large bicones in metallic silver;
- Two medium sized vintage Japanese pearls in white and blue veins;
- Small vintage antique silver round spacers;
- Small Czech Fire faceted beads in shades of blue/green;
- Stardust silver spacers near the clasp;
- One silver-plated Swarovski clasp with embedded strass flatbacks.

Some details as follows...


Above, details of the two Swarovski focal beads 6002, representing Orihime and Hikoboshi, with a lovely faceted cut with AB coating. Some of the bicones, pearls and Swarovski stars can also be seen. The 6002 beads are only 15mm long, thus quite small. The necklace as a result is very delicate and short, and no gemstones were used this time.


Some details of the Swarovski crystal silver shade stars, and also the bicones and pearls.


A detail of the Swarovski clasp with embedded rhinestones and more of the 6002 beads, with their wonderful AB effect and impeccable cut.


On the 1st picture a detail of one of the vintage Japanese faux pearls in shades of white with blue veins, as well as the Swarovski pearls, some bicones and those small faceted Czech Fire beads. The remaining pictures show close-ups of the bicones in two different sizes and diverse shades of blue, silver and white. I tried to emulate a fading effect with the colours here, that is why I had to use 4 or 5 different shades and effects.

The bamboo leaves rustle, rustle,
shaking away in the eaves.
The stars go twinkle, twinkle;
Gold and silver grains of sand...
(traditional Tanabata song)

The Amaterasu suncatcher

Again, I took ages to produce anything these days. This cold seems to love me! Oh yeah, I cannot get rid of it. Still, improving slowly.

These days, I have decided to make some suncatchers with Swarovski crystals. Why is that? Just because we are ready to move to our new house and, hopefully, I will have some skylights where I will be able to hang some nice prisms! Also, it's a way to celebrate Summer, or rather, Spring.

I used one large Energy Gate prism by Swarovski, very nicely cut, along with Swarovski Clear AB bicones and vintage round faceted crystal beads, as well as some Miyuki Delica seed beads strung into a bail for the prism itself. And I called it Amaterasu. Amaterasu is the Sun Goddess, possibly the most important Shinto deity and her name means "the one who illuminates Heaven". Easy to see why I have chosen that name, I guess!

It is a very simple, decorative piece. I just used stainless steel silver-plated wire, one Energy Gate with the Swarovski logo etched in one of the facets, several crystal AB faceted beads and Swarovski Clear AB bicones, as well as one Tibetan silver ring to hang it.

Some details:


Details are all about light being refracted, shadows and transparency. On these pictures we can see the faceted beads and bicones with that lovely AB coating...


More of the crystal faceted beads, along with the Miyuki Delicas I used to make a bail for the Energy Gate prism.


The pictures may look a bit weird (grainy actually), and that's because I have used a greyish silk background, so, the fibres of the fabric are very visible and sometimes magnified by the prism. I like these pictures since the crystal cut can be fully appreciated, so precise and so sharp.