Introducing: Poppy Swing

thank you so much for all the lovely, creative names! all the suggestion was so wonderful, I really had hard time picking just one. but after much thinking, I decided on "Poppy Swing" that Kaitie Au suggested! I think it's discribes earrings right on! so Kaitie Au, I'll gift you the prototype. please email: info@jewelrybynatsuko.com or contact me through my Etsy shop with your address.

and these earrings are avilable in two colors at my Etsy shop & Style Outside The Box store!

Happy Crafting:)

October Blog-o-sphere Think Tank

topic: october: favourite season? (and why?)


my favorite season is season 9! Ha ha… I’m talking about Project Runway. I thought about seasons as in spring, summer… but I don’t really have favorite. I used to love summer. I thought it’s perfect since my name is “summer child” in Japanese. But as I get older, heat became too hard on my body. (this is sound so old!! I’m not that old yet…) well, I guess it’s not that bad but bad enough to not be my favorite time of the year. But I do love having four seasons and I appreciate each season:)

Now, for those of you who watch Project Runway isn’t season 9 exciting!? Especially Anya. She is amazing! She is only sewing for four months before the show but it doesn’t matter when you can design! I’m very curious to see how her collection going to look with her limited sewing skill. And it comes on tonight @9pm!

And here is more from blog friends talking about same topic:

Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com/

Kathryn Cole: http://www.kathryncolejewelry.blogspot.com/

Beth Cyr: http://www.bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/

Barbara Donovan: http://www.barbaradonovan.blogspot.com/

Diana Fazio http://www.metooiguana.blogspot.com/

Thomasin Durgin: http://metalriot.blogspot.com/

WATTO: http://www.wattoonline.com/news

Happy Crafting:)

New Season: Giveaway & Coupon code

it's been so long since I posted anything on my blog! fist off, we moved house over the summer and just now got Internet at home. (even this posting page looks different!) second, I took over jewelry/consignment at local shop Zodiac and helping at the store every weekend on top of making jewelry for them. and just start to selling at new site "Style Outside The Box". mean while, lots of custom orders and some wholesale orders... guess what I am trying to say is I been busy! and while I couldn't make whole collection for the season, I do have some new color/new design to share!

here is new poppy color "Tangerine Orange"

new design "Key Necklace"

new earrings prototype - doesn't have a name yet!

so, here is the give away! please come up the name for my new earrings and I'll gift this prototype. I been wearing them but I'll change the ear wire. please leave comment on here or on my facebook page!

one more news! because of the rising price of metal, new site and wholesale, I had to increase price on my Etsy shop. but I made coupon code for my lovely Etsy customer who been supporting me for years!

Coupon Code: HOLIDAYS2011

25% off on all items in my Etsy shop

good through this holiday season!



Happy Crafting:)

August Blog-o-sphere Think Tank

August's topic:
"Some Things on your Bucket list" (things you'd like to do/ accomplish before you die) (and maybe why?)

This is good one! Though, I never made “bucket list”… But if I were to live to be 80, I’m just a half way there so I’m not going to worry about it now and work on the list in next 20 years. However, there is one thing I deeply regret that I didn’t do before I got married… I never lived alone! I was living with my family in japan before I got marry and that is not that strange thing in Japan even though you are over 18 years old. But now I think about it I’d never under happy circumstances would be able to experience “live alone”… now, this might be totally “grass is greener…” kind of thing but when I look at like my sister or some of my friend that living alone I can’t help thinking “oh, it must be so nice to have place totally on your own…” don’t have to be live around somebody else schedule, don’t have to clean up after somebody else mess and you can decorate the place anyway you want! But I love my family so I just dream…:)

Ok, I don’t have my own place but here is little part of the house that is my own, my studio. Excuse my mess but it’s my place and I can make mess if I want to! Hehe…

and here is more Bucket List by lovely friends of Blog-o-sphere Think Tank! ~
Andes Cruz: http://andescruz.wordpress.com/
Kathleen Krucoff: http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/
Thomasin Durgin: http://metalriot.blogspot.com/
Wendy Kelly: http://www.wendykianakelly.com/

maybe I can get some idea... Happy Crafting!

sewing fun!

I got the sewing bugs! I did trade and got some fabrics few weeks back and I set up sewing machine at my weekend studio, got some patterns from Jo-Ann Fabrics & got busy! it's been so long since I sew and I forgot how time consuming this was... just to make simple tunic took me few weeks! well, I was only sewing on Saturdays in between customers but still... it's safe to say, sewing is only going to be my hobby! but I love it! I still have the fabric left so I'm going to cut-off one jeans and make cuff at the bottom. and maybe some aprons...

Happy Crafting:)

May Blog-o-sphere Think Tank

topic: "favourite quote(s)?" (and why? if you want to share..)

for me this is it! "what goes around comes around" this is center of my believes. karma. I work hard on my jewelry, makes every piece with heart & soul. and in return, I get happy customers:) great karma!

another one is this Buddhist saying "袖振る仲も他生の縁" my mom wrote it for me in her letter after I left my country to get married and live with my husband in U.S. I'm not sure how to translate but it means something like "even if you are just passing by with the person, we are somehow related in one life or the other". this means everybody is related somehow. my mom wrote it for me to say, even I'm faraway from my family, I'm not alone.

I want to give special thanks to very talented jeweler & great friend Andes for bringing us together every month to write these fun topics! and everybody that participating:)xoxo

participants:

Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com/
Brad Severtson: http://hammeringoutaliving.blogspot.com/
Kathleen Krucoff: http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/
Wendy Kelly: http://www.wendykianakelly.com/
Mary Spencer:http://www.wattoonline.com/news
Stephanie Clark: http://thethinkingsofacoldweathergirl.blogspot.com/
Barbara Donovan: http://barbaradonovan.blogspot.com/
Laura Flavin: http://www.modernbirdjewelry.blogspot.com/
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/
Thomasin Durgin: http://metalriot.blogspot.com/
Shaun Young: http://shaunyoung.ca/
Kathryn Cole: http://www.kathryncolejewelry.blogspot.com/
Natsuko Hanks: http://jewelrybynatsuko.blogspot.com/

Happy Crafting:)

Spring/Summer Collection Photo Collage

for some reason I just couldn't take satisfying pictures in my usual set-up so I took it outside. Saturday was great day for taking pictures! not too sunny, not too gloomy. all new pictures! what do you think...?

more new items are going to be listed in my shop this week. stay tuned!

Happy Crafting:)

Spring/Summer Collection 2011 & Private Sale

finally! I finally finished all my pieces that I can call "collection" and have some time to take pictures and list in my shop! I'll slowly adding to my shop one by one and here are today's listings.
Aqua to Sapphire Glamour Poppy on Tribal Brass Pendant with Long Bamboo Brass Chain

Three Feathers on Brass Ring Long Necklace


~*~*~*~*~*PRIVATE SALE*~*~*~*~*~
take 20% off on your total purchase at jewelrybynatsuko.etsy.com until SAT 4/30!

enter coupon code "SPRING2011" at checkout.

Happy Crafting:)

the karma of inspirations...

a while ago my good blog friend Aimee send me a link to my facebook page and say, look like somebody ripped off my design. well, I certainly see the similarity with my work but not really sure if they did ripped off my design. I'm sure I'm not the first person to use enamel discs in the design and call it "poppies". but say they got "inspired" from my poppies. and I got inspired from them and here is what I came up with. I like to call this is "the karma of inspirations"! hehe...:)

Happy Crafting & Hope for quick recovery in Japan!

March Blog-o-sphere Think Tank

March's topic: best childhood/ younger years memory?

.............................................................................................................mmm..............................

not that I had bad childhood or anything but nothing really stands out to be that good. my parents took us to beautiful places for mountain hiking, field trips but all I remember is how tire I was from walking and just wanted to go home to read and craft. so my good memories are books I read & things I made. and the best is this!

OMG, these books bring back so many memories! I used to make everyone of these felt dolls that was in these books. and my dad bought them from me. I don't know what he did with them (probably gave to his students?) but I guess you can say that he was my first customer:) and when I was searching for book's pictures just now, I found her (author, Terumi Ootaka) blog! amazing after 30years.... wow.

here are more fun childhood memories...

Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com/
Kathleen Krucoff http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/
Laura Flavin: http://modernbirdjewelry.blogspot.com/
Wendy Kelly: http://www.wendykianakelly.com/
Stephanie Nocito Clark http://thethinkingsofacoldweathergirl.blogspot.com/
Brad Severtson: http://hammeringoutaliving.blogspot.com/
Andrea Bell: http://feathersfreesiasandfishingtackle.blogspot.com/
Shaun Young http://shaunyoung.ca/
Pal Gooz http://pmgart.blogspot.com/
Beth Cyr http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/

Happy Crafting & Hope for quick recovery in Japan!

*~*~*~Spring/Summer Collection~*~*~* in the works

Hi:) I was very heart broken over whats happening in Japan + my son got sick + I got sick... it was very bad few days. it's still too hard for me to talk about Japan but my family there are safe + my son got better and went to school = I'm back to work!

so I'm working on new spring/summer collection and looking like it's going to be lots of feathers, tribal chic shape mix with feminine details.

Happy Crafting:)

recycling fun!

here is my "old jean skirt purse". I got the lining & scarf material at 50% off section at joann fabrics. looks so festive and vintage-y and I love it! and I actually found ton of old jeans that I can't fit it anymore (so sad...) but couldn't let go. and now that I found the way to still *wear* them I'm so happy!

when I was looking at YouTube video, I found tons of recycling idea and I made scarf out of my old t-shirt and necklace out of my old leggings! (this definitely no one but me wants to wear!)

Old T-shirt Scarf

Old Legging Necklace

if anybody like the totorial, I can send it to you but search on YouTube. there are ton of it!

Happy Crafting:)

Feathers, Feather Lady & Feather Jewelry

recently, i just had sudden urge to use feathers in my jewelry design. so just like anything else, I started to search on Etsy. and I was lucky to stumble on this wonderful shop The Feather Lady. why do I say I was lucky? first off, her shop is gorgeous! and I'm totally feather newbie so I had lots of questions. she answer every question so nicely and say in most cases she collect feathers from ground herself and clean them, wash & dry and all that! I was sold!! and the feathers I received was absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous! every piece was very nicely packed. and every feathers are so beautiful. I feel so much care for feathers from the Feather Lady.





now I have lots of idea with theses "gems" but don't have enough time! I was going to work on them this past weekend but I got distracted by sewing... yes, sewing! I set-up sewing station in my studio at Zodiac and made purse from my old jean skirt. it was so much fun! I'll take pictures and post them tomorrow! oh, and here is my practice necklace with feather. this feather is not from feather lady but I needed to practice!

Happy Crafting:)

February Blog-o-sphere Think Tank

~"Your favourite winter meal/ recipe?"

Ha ha… I don’t really have “recipe”… I cook daily but not because I like to cook. I cook so my family can eat decent fresh meal. My meal has to be simple & easy! But usually pretty tasty too:) in winter I cook soups a lot. What kind is depends on what else I’m having that day and what’s in my refrigerator.

Simple & Easy but Tasty Soup
1) Put sliced onion & shredded carrot in the water and boil
2) Vegetable bouillon
3) Little sea salt & pepper
4) Soy sauce
5) Drop or two sesame oil
6) Farm tofu (cut in cubes)
7) Spinach

I struggle what to cook daily… I cannot wait to see everyone’s recipe for inspiration! Here is other blog that talks about same topic

Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com/
Stephanie Nocito Clark: http://thethinkingsofacoldweathergirl.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Skiles: http://www.kaskiles.com/
Shaun Young: http://shaunyoung.ca/
Brad Severtson: http://hammeringoutaliving.blogspot.com/
Wendy Kelly: http://www.wendykianakelly.com/
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/
Kathleen Krucoff: http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/
Kathryn Cole: http://www.kathryncolejewelry.blogspot.com/

Happy Cooking:)

Riveting the Poppies

~how do you rivet those little balls without cracking the glass?

I got this question through my Flickr page. I’m no expert but I could be very cleaver & love questions like this! And I had locket order to do today so I decided to take pictures step by step. BTW, to me riveting is the single most valuable technique I learned at jewelry class. It’s opened up how I incorporate my enamel pieces into metalwork in so many ways!

You’ll need~
*one poppy disc
*brass locket
*1” - 18g fine silver round wire -And it’s important to use fine silver because fine silver doesn’t harden so you don’t have to put too much pressure hammering them.
*nail head punch –I got mine at “Harbor Freight Tools” for about $3. In jewelry class, we were using a fancy tool that has many sizes but this will do me just fine.
*stand for nail head
*riveting hammer
*small drill
*bead reamer




Let's start!

Drill a small hole on the middle of locket. Hole should be snag to wire so it’s better to start small and wider with reamer.

Make ball on one end of silver wire.

insert poppy, then locket on wire.

set ball end on the nail head punch. Punch end should be large enough to cover most of the ball but small enough to not touching the enameled surface.

Clip wire to leave about 1.5mm.

Tap on wire until they are almost flat.

file on sharp edges.

Yay, finished!

Happy Crafting:)