Sunday, December 9, 2012

new pieces just in time for the holidays

New 18k gold pieces are finally here!

They are from the Lani Collection, all petite and perfect to wear everyday.




The heart is going to be a christmas gift for my special someone in the family.  The eclipse, and the crescent with a diamond is something that I am eyeing on but can"t decide which one...

It's already December though. I've got to start thinking about presents for my family!







Friday, December 7, 2012

Update.


Ileava has a new project.

We now have a store~! !  The store is Ileava and co.


It is in Seibu Department Store in Shibuya, Tokyo.
So, come visit us when you are in town!

We are now preparing for the holidays. So many pieces that I would be happy to receive as gifts!!


Here are some of the views of the store~








this a view of the back wall portion before the holidays


Now I clearly know I need more and better picture of the store~ stay tuned!






Saturday, September 8, 2012

And this is going to be.....



It is really happening and it is really just around the corner.
The long check list gets checked off but the list continues to grow.

Here is a peak at the displays we are making. This will get cut up and attached to another board. 




Stay tuned for the final out come.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Thyme



We have been growing herbs in our little balcony and this little guy is our thyme.



I love how the leaves are so tiny and the shades of green are just right.

The other day I decided to sketch it and really see how it grows.
It was almost like when I was in elementary school where I had to draw the plants growth over summer break and note how the plant changes.

There two coming out, and then another come out from here, and that merges to here but this is connected to here.....



The sketching and note taking actually made a big difference. There is a pattern to the way plants grow, and I din't fully understand till now.
It is probably something that anyone who knows about gardening or growing plants knows, but it took a good long sketching time for me to realize. But I'm glad I made the time to do it.

It really made it feel that I need sketch more often.
In my art school days, I remember going out to different buildings and houses to sketch. We would measure with our eyes, and see if the height or the length has a patterns or repetition, how it was designed...


It would be fun and good to get in the habit of doing~


Friday, August 17, 2012

tiny flower


a very nice and loving uncle had commissioned me to make earrings for his little niece.




I hope she liked it.




Sunday, August 12, 2012

meteor shower



I heard the peak to see the meteor shower was sunday, but unfortunately I couldn't go anywhere to see it.

I remember years ago when everyone was talking about the meteor shower a few of us drove up the 5 freeway, away from the LA lights to see it.
That was really something!

Tonight was clear so I had to see if I can see at least the brighter shooting stars. I got my anti mosquito incense ready and watched for the meteors from my balcony.
I saw 2, which I guess it is good considering the condition I was in with all the city lights and street lights around me.



Maybe next year I could go to our usual camping place in the mountains around this time in August. Lay down on the streets and watch the stars the planets ( maybe it won't line up the same) and ooh.... I hope the moon is not up......

I will just have to try again tomorrow!


Saturday, August 11, 2012


Great news! 

We are excited to share that ileava is going to open a store in Shibuya !




We are planning to open in September which is just a month away. 

we are in preparation mode, thinking about our store to look like this and to have that, and need to buy this and want to make that...
Time seems to be never enough.

But I cant wait for the moment I can post the photo of the completed store here~!





Sunday, July 22, 2012

little fish, gold fish, swimming in the water



There are so many things that are cute, cool and beautiful in Japan.

My friend had brought rice crackers (shrip crackers to be exact) confectionary the other day to the studio.



On the package it said "catching goldfish". Inside, there were shrimp crackers shaped in goldfishes and circular crackers as bubbles in water and a spoon like cracker that acts as a net to catch the fish. 

There is a tradition in the summer time where there are carnival like festivals and one of the common games is trying to catch goldfish with a net that is made out of tissue paper to make it challenging to catch with.

The crackers were such a playful idea and yet very seasonal. These are the things I love to find out about Japan, so fun! 



Thursday, June 14, 2012

Layers of clouds


It's so bright out now that we are in June.

I can catch the sunset when I'm coming home on the train.

Today I was feeling a little happy picking out a gift for friend.  I found something I think she would be happy with.

When I was done and went outside, this view of the clouds  layers of  clouds, moving slowly in different direction across the Ueno station. 





Love the sky when I could see so much of it.








This is another view as I was getting off the train at my station.  Another great spot because the platform  for the train is about the same as a three story building.


It almost feels like friday...... almost.











Thursday, May 24, 2012

a little sun


Sunbathing, is our little one, Rain.



He does this around this time, soaking up the sun and enjoying the breeze. He lies there in that perfect shape, we often call it the specimen pose. 
His ears gets pink and all his body becomes warm and a little soft?

A little time to enjoy the sun even in our little balcony. 

ha~ miss the beach in LA!


Monday, May 14, 2012

Mid May

   
Love it when the weather is perfect!

The trees and plants are soaking all the sun and everything is turning green all around us.

At our little balcony garden, this year there are lots of flowers on the citrus tree.



The fruit is called Kabosu, in Japanese, it is similar to a lime, it is green and small but smaller, more round and  but I think is tastes a little sweeter.

The smell is so strong it makes me want to leave the widows open all day. The breeze even carries the scent inside the studio at night.

During the day, there are butterflies, small bees, big black bees with black wings that come to the trees. We wait patiently so they can do their job and we can enjoy the fruit in autumn~!



Wednesday, April 25, 2012

exciting month


April is an important month in Japan. 

New school year starts in April not, September.
New employees start their new jobs in April. 
Fiscal year start in April. 

Cherry blossoms make us feel that spring is here and the weather is getting warmer. 
A lot of "new-ness" is felt everywhere you go.

There is a new building that is going to open tomorrow~
It is called Shibuya Hikarie.
It is a building that houses theatre, restaurants and cafes, shopping and a floor that is dedicated to arts and culture. There are offices spaces above and parking lots and the subway station should connect right below all of this.

I am trying to see when I can go check it out~

I get excited when I see buildings that are being built, and I can see the process. and yes I have shared it here before but it was two years ago when I took this photo.



A year later of so I took this.


This was also the same time I was preparing to do the pop-up store, at the department store right across from this one. We pack all the displays and everything else that we need and stack them up on the dolly so that we can take it inside and start setting things up.


Well, this time we had 3 white plastic containers and one cardboard box stacked up on each other and bound together with a durable rubber cable. 
You can see the similarity right?


The great and exciting thing is that there is a store that will carry some of the ileava jewelry, starting tomorrow! 

Yeah~!  I can't wait to go see it all!




In another month or so, there Tokyo Sky Tree will have its grand opening. Always a lot of exciting things happening in Tokyo!!



Saturday, April 21, 2012

feels like Spring

It really feel like Spring is here when you see cherry blossoms in full bloom.

Every year I forget how pretty they are!!

This year I wasn't able to go to any area where the cherry blossoms are famous but I was able to see them bloom in my usual neighborhood.


This is the closed park from where I am. Small park but really great trees.





This was in Shibuya. It's really funny that cherry blossom trees are so appreciated this time of year but you forget the trees lining up the streets are cherry trees.
It is a also great to see them at night specially when it is lit up.
I know it's not that great quality but even my father who was visiting had to stop and capture that moment.


Then a week later another type of cherry blossoms are in full bloom!
They are the type that cascades downward and creates a really pretty walkway by the stream.





Here we are back at the small park. I love how the ground is now covered with the petals.


Rain is also happy that the weather is getting warmer.



The tradition is to have a small get-together and enjoy the cherry trees. There would be more people under the trees just a week before. But I thought this season is really nice, too. It's almost like snow falling but pink petals!



I never get sick of looking at the cherry blossoms every year. So pretty.
And sometime they surprise you by following you all the way home on a train back to you house~








Friday, April 6, 2012

April


Playing around with my new rings. 





This is the ring, I now where on my thumb. And I'll probably have to move it to my pointer finger when it gets warmer. My finger is half a size bigger......




For now I'm liking how flat the ring is and how this the line is. It will be part of the arabesque  collections.

I hope everyone will like it too ~!


Doing another pop up shop in Shibuya this time!

Tokyu Department Store Toyoko 4/5~4/11





Friday, March 23, 2012

the key


Sometimes I'm looking at the ground as I walk, just in case there are any diamonds that fell off a ring that no one has noticed.



Today I saw something that caught my eyes. It was right on the painted sign that says "stop" on the asphalt. 
I took a few steps back. Was it just the metal tab off of a can? Was it something gold? I tapped it with my feet so that I can pick it up.   


But no! This little key that was a pretty pink gold color was stuck. Mashed into the paint of the signage on the ground. It probably got run over so many times by cars that it can't be peeled off. 

A start of a little public collage....  
I could maybe add to it when I go there again.  

Either way I found a little story, at a place I go so often. It made me smile a bit~


I am doing a pop up shop in Tokyo~
Seibu Department Store 3/21~ 3/30
Tokyu Department Store Toyoko 4/4~4/11


Thursday, March 8, 2012

getting ready for spring



So I looked up the other day, and there it was! Plum blossom. 
I was just in time to see the pink buds ready to burst.
I like the plum trees with a few flowers and those pink buds, and their the branches that usually  grows upwards. 

It doesn't feel like spring yet but there are a lot of signs from nature.
Like the frogs in the pond....... very loud and big!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

hearts hearts


When my sister and I were young, my mother would put hearts or stars on the things that we owned.
Our names were too similar so she assigned me a star and my sister a heart, instead of our names. Sometimes I feel that this is why she became more of a caring person. 

It was now time to make a heart that was feminine but not too girly, not too cute but stylized.
Something that people who like hearts can wear at any age.



The 18k gold has a matte finish which gives a nice glow, the oxidized curl inside the heart give a sharpness to the heart and an tiny diamond for a little sparkle.

Usually I wear it with the blackened silver chain, as you see in the photo. When I want to feel more golden, sometimes I do, when I go on meetings or when I know there are more grown ups I have to meet, then I change it out with a gold chain, and the look really changes.

So, even though I really like stars more than hearts, I wear this heart time to time. Does it make me more of a caring person...... working on that!


Thursday, February 2, 2012

something warm

It is still very cold in Tokyo and what is great for cold seasons is something warm and sweet. A little bit of alcohol will help you warm up.



Tonight I had a cup of Irish Coffee. 
There is a place that is right by the train station that is nearest to me and it is always nice to warm up before you ride your bike back to the house.

Friday, January 20, 2012

snowflakes

It has been a while since it last snowed in Tokyo. It is really colder in January and February here than it is in December.

But even if it snows all day, there are never snow on the asphalt, only on lawns and dirt. So there would never be enough to make a good snowman in this neihborhood!
I was thinking of making a very very small snowman, but thought that I needed to pull out my good gloves that I wear for skiing or snowboarding... and that wasn't going to happen today.



This was a card that I made. My dog making the snowman.

So, as I watched the snow fall today, while making waxes and new pieces, I was thinking of the new Kate Bush song Snowflake.

I wonder how many times it will snow this year~


Sunday, January 15, 2012

the sea



I was going to the Tokyo International Exhibition Center, there was a jewelry show that I wanted to check out. As I got off the train, I could smell the salty air.
I forget how close the ocean is from where I live.


There are boats you can take across the bay so I think I'll look that up next time and try to enjoy the bay more.






Thursday, January 12, 2012

going out


"I won't be out too late."

I would say to my dog. If only he could understand. He always looks so devastated~





I wore my new necklace with a long champange colored pearl necklace. The length of the pearl makes me feel more slender.
The diamond shaped necklace is a gold and blackened silver with a little bit or sparkle as accent.  More styles are on the ileava site too.



Monday, January 9, 2012

what do I like to do?

As I was cleaning some stuff out of the closet, I found this!


My good friend who knows me too well, gave this to me a while back.

It's one of my favorite things, puzzles......  trying to figure this out over the holidays really made it feel like the holiday seasons when you can relax a bit. 



Done~!



Thursday, January 5, 2012

Happy New Year~!

I hope this year will be a great year for everyone!




I put this up on the wall. The greens and the acorn are so cute and they are real~!