Handmade purchase from RN & TN Studio

My most recent purchase from a husband and wife artisan team RN & TN Studio based out of the small city of Lamphun in Thailand. I absolutely love their handbags, Ipod holders, & wallets. I love that they design from nature- using symbols for the sun, flowers, and the look of wood in their products. I asked them to make a custom business card holder for me. When I received my card holder, I loved the look of the packaging and my little leather key floral accessory given as a gift. From one artisan to another, I thank them for the presentation and quality of their work. Check out their website!

More seashell jewelry

I have been tinkering with all the new seashells I aquired. I have been hesitant to use my drill for these delicate seashells so I have been selecting the ones that naturally already have holes in them. My good friend Lucia from blugrn design gave me some seashells from her trip to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. They are a bit smaller than the ones I found on the Sta. Teresa beaches, BUT they are so much more colorful! I just started playing with them so I will start sharing the pieces as I complete them. Hope you like them!

MinnaK

Here is the designer in a fabulous black hat! So stylish!

I want feature my great friend Minna Kao's business. She designs wedding gowns, evening gowns, and ready to wear under her label MinnaK. She also works with clients to do custom designs. Her gowns are definitely for the modern bride. She is currently working on her upcoming collection for Fall 2009 Nolcha Fashion Week . I am very proud of her and hope that the show will be a success! Go check out her designs at Minnak.

NOLA

Last weekend my hubby and I headed out to New Orleans to celebrate his B-day! I have to admit that the first time I went to NOLA I did not care for it at all. I wanted to give the city another try, so road tripping we went. We only spent a day and a half there but I enjoyed walking in the french quarter, eating beignets at Cafe du Monde, listening to jazz as walked down Bourbon street. I have to say I want to go back. I want to attend a jazz fest there and eat their wonderful food. One thing I learned was not to order a bloody mary unless you are prepared for the HOT factor. Man, did I learn my lesson.....Tums was my buddy....

Happy Monday

Just want to share the new stones I purchased at the gem show this past weekend. I bought some iolite and labradorite. I can't wait to design some new items for my shop this week. I already had a great start to the week with a sale online last night.
It is also my hubby's bday weeks! I will be putting my party hat on for the next 2 weeks. We usually celebrate with birthday month and I think we started with a big bang---- Costa Rica! So Happy Monday everyone! Have a great week!

Seashell jewelry

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday! The creative juices have finally been flowing as of last night! It took a week to get inspired after having been on vacation to Costa Rica. I cannot complain but I was wondering what was wrong with me! So today my hubby has been helping me go through the seashells my friend and I collected on the Sta. Teresa beach. He has been drilling holes in the shells that I want to design with. What a great day! I already had a sale on an item I designed last night! Thank you! Happy day, happy day!

Costa Rica

Arenal

Santa Teresa

La Fortuna Waterfalls

We are back from our trip to Costa Rica. I swear I should have read this Costa Rica website prior to going for packing info. Amazing website with great tips on what to pack. I found it late while we were waiting for our flight to C.R. Check it out if you are heading to Tico land.
I want to share a couple of photographs from our amazing trip. We took 7 days and drove to various parts of Costa Rica. We drove to Arenal, Monteverde, Montezuma, Mal Pais and Santa Teresa. Beautiful country! I am so glad we were able to join our good friends for this amazing road trip! What an adventure! You can check out more of our photographs on my flickr set.

I think next trip might be to Guatemala with some other friends. I've been once before but fell in love with Guatemala and want to go back!