I made original earings using Murano glass beads!


Ev_001:
Murano Glass and Vintage Swarovski Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of two 8mm vintage Swarovski channel links, six 3mm vintage Swarovski channel drops, one 13mm bicolor star gold foil bead, one 18mm bicolor moon gold foil bead, set in 18K gold French Wire style.



Ev_002:
Murano Glass Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of two 7-8mm round gold foil beads and two bird, leaf, and flower glasses, set in 18K gold French Wire style.



Ev_003:
Murano Glass Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of four 5mm round gold foil beads and two 17mm flower disc gold foil beads, linked by 14 K Gold Filled chains, and set in 18K gold French Wire style.



Ev_004:
Murano Glass Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of two 5mm disc beads and two approximately 4.7mm large hole beads, linked by 14 K Gold Filled chains, and set in 18K gold French Wire style.



Ev_005:
Murano Glass Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of four 6mm cube gold foil beads and two 8mm cube gold foil beads, set in 18K gold studs and 18K gold and silicon ear backs.



Ev_006:
Murano Glass Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of two 10mm disc beads and one 20mm butterfly gold foil bead and one 15mm flower gold foil bead, linked by 14 K Gold Filled chains, and set in 18K gold French Wire style.



Ev_007:
Murano Glass Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of four 6mm cube gold foil beads and two 8mm cube gold foil beads, set in 18K gold studs and 18K gold and silicon ear backs.



Ev_008:
Murano Glass Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of two 10mm heart gold foil beads and two 5mm coin beads, set in 18K gold French Wire style.



Ev_009:
Murano Glass Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of two 13mm Millefiori Teardrop beads and two 5mm coin beads, set in 18K gold French Wire style.



Ev_010:
Murano Glass and Czech Glass Earrings in a 18 K Gold Setting
Made of two 5mm coin beads and two (four) Czech glass beads, set in 18K gold French Wire style.

Cherry Blossoms

This year, we went to the "East Gardens of the Imperial Palace" on April 3rd and "Shinjuku-Gyoen" on April 9th to enjoy looking at cherry blossoms. This is our annual spring event. There are a lot of great view of cherry blossoms to enjoy. Tree has a huge amount of flowers in each park. I am very excited to see them. The photos of cherry blossoms are below.

Up in the Air

Last weekend, my husband and I went to a cinema to watch the film "Up in the Air" (starring George Clooney). I don't know why but the film opens in only a few cinemas in Yokohama. We had no choice of cinemas to go to. We went to Minami Machida by car to watch the film on Monday March 22nd.

"Up in the Air" is a story of a man who works for CTC (Career Transition Counseling) as the downsizing expert. He always travels by business class around 250 days per year and his dream is to obtain 10 million mile points.

As the film was very enjoyable, we could spend a happy time! I love this kind of comedy. I think that George Clooney is the right man for the film.

Golden Week

We are planning a trip in Golden Week (Spring holidays in Japan) in which we are going to Hawaii, instead of Oahu which many Japanese like and where Honolulu is located. As soon as we decided to go to Hawaii, we looked for some information on the island on the Internet. There is a lot of information on Oahu, while not enough information on Hawaii exists. What a shame! So, we bought the travel guide book on Hawaii that specialised in the island. I think Hawaii is a very exciting island with many spots for sightseeing and sports activities. The island has an active volcano, and it was made by lava flow. I am more and more interested in it, thanks to the book.

Mitsuike Park - April 4th 2009

We went to Mitsuike Park to have lunch viewing the cherry blossom on April 4th. The park is located in the northern part of Yokohama. It has three ponds (“mitsu” means “three” and “ike” means “pond”), which were used to irrigate rice fields during the Edo period. It was warm today. I made lunch at home and brought it. It was delicious enough. I was satisfied to have lunch viewing the beautiful cherry blossom. It is one of the best places to visit with your family and see great Sakura. The beautiful scenery is like below.

Every spring, we can see 10 kinds of cherry blossoms in Mitsuike Park. You can enjoy viewing cherry blossoms by the end of April. There is a time delay between the different blossoms.	Mitsuike Park has not only ponds but also many hills. So, there are many short hiking courses with beautiful tress and flowers.
The sky was light blue.	When I'm concentrating when taking a sakura photo, my mouth opens unconsciously....
This is my favorite photo.	Water birds perched on each post. What a lovely view!
Look, the last post is vacant!	I tried to take a fine closeup shot of the cherry blossom using a manual closeup setting with my digital camera.
In the park, the cherry blossom was gorgeous but we could also enjoy viewing these tiny yellow flowers (Japanese rose).	This branch has a unique shape.
Cherry blossom and a pine tree.	This is the best photo. Good job! Do you think so?
There were 3 kinds of ducks on this pond enjoying a swim. Each breed gathered in a small group. That was amazing!	Because there were so many people eating and drinking under the trees, it was difficult just to take a photo of the blossom without people.
Fabulous scenary!	Though this picture is out of focus, I like it.
We seemed to take a Cherry blossom shower.	We could see the most spectacular amount of blossom.
We were satisfied with the lovely cherry blossoms in the park. I strongly recommend sitting down on the hill and looking down the wonderful blossoms around the pond.	This was taken by my husband at the same spot as the previous photo. I think it is the best of all taken by him.

Wire Wrapping - March 28th 2009

I went to an atlier for making Murano glass jewelleries on March 28th. I enjoyed the Italian atmosphere in the atlier which had a lot of Venetian (Murano) glass beads as always.

On that day, we did a wire working and made this lovely wire wrapped jewellery! There were many samples we could look at for inspiration before we started. The work was difficult for me because the wires were hard. Once we bend the wire, the wire is shaped and we cannot transform it easily.	Though it was more difficult than just making beaded jewellery, I enjoyed making jewellery using wire. I would like to make more. As the material such as this square wire is very unique (rare), I think that the quality of the end product is good and looks gorgeous. What do you think about it? After working, I like making wire jewelleries.
I bought these materials (freshwater pearls, Venetian and Czech beads) at a discount price. As I could select them for making a jewellery suitable for the summer season, I was glad to get them.	As soon as I was home, I designed an original long necklace using my imagination (or inspiration). I could add the beads stocked at home and I found making it very satisfying and I named it "stardust" necklace. I love it.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Last weekend, I watched the film “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” on DVD, as I am interested in British people, their culture and history. I enjoyed watching this film. It was very useful for me to know about England history. And I like Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I in the film, so I could spend a lovely time at the weekend.

Two years ago, I had watched “Elizabeth I”, the TV mini-series drama (Channel 4) starring Helen Mirren (I love her!). That drama was very good, so I enjoyed comparing Elizabeth played by Cate Blanchett and Helen Mirren. In my opinion, Helen Mirren is much better than Cate Blanchett.

The Biography of Queen Elizabeth I often plays on the telly and films in the UK. Do the British people love her? Why do they love her? I want to know about how they feel about Elizabeth I. I’ll ask that question to my British friends.

By the way, the pronunciation “Elizabeth” was very difficult for me. Especially the syllabic pronunciation. “E-liz-a-beth” is correct, but I have always pronounced “Eliza-beth”.