beautiful coorg

2012-01-24T18:20:00.001-08:00

we drove from mysore to the hills of beautiful coorg and spent one night on a coffee plantation. it was tranquil and gorgeous!

Fab...

2012-01-20T06:25:00.000-08:00

We went to Fab India.. Is there really more to say.. 5 women at Fab India. Running around looking at all the cool stuff. Trying on clothes and getting excited about it all. We purchased our ‘items’ as an Indian would say and gathered into 2 rickshaws to go to the market…

Oh but before I forget, a sort of panicky thing happened. On our way to Fab India, we stopped at an ATM. The machine swallowed one of our cards. I ran into the bank and the first guy I talked to said. ‘Sorry Madam, the card is automatically destroyed’. A small, tinge of pain went through my body, but I knew better… So, I asked to talk to the manager. He said, “No problem Madam, the man will be here between 4 and 4:30, it is best if you come at 5 or 5:30. Your friend will need her passport and we will have the card.” Ok.. That was a much better answer.. And we were on our way to Fab India..

So.. After Fab India two rickshaws to the market.. Devaraj Urs market is spectacular, unless there are 5 Indian guys following you around with gourd flutes and small trinkets. We could not, for the life of us get rid of them.. So, we tried to ignore their insistence. We wandered through the fruit section, the flower section, the stainless steel kitchen items section, and of course the puja offering section. It was time to have lunch.

mmmm… Traditional thali at the Dasaprakash, of course, we all mmmmmm’d our way through the meal and that was that.

It was a busy day. One thing after the next. So we then went to the scarf shop and whirled our way through, making a thorough disaster, looking at so many things. We had to go though and meet Kumar and see his workshop so we took a rickshaw there, spent an hour with him, asking questions and seeing what he does. He had to leave. So we wandered through the goldsmith section of town and I tried to explain what I could of goldsmithing in India.

It was time to check in on the ATM card. We went back to the bank. He got the card and handed it to her. Yay!!! India success...

We made our way back to our hotel for a short rest before going to Kumar’s jewelry shop. Again. More shopping ladies. So much fun.. Beautiful jewelry came back to our hotel with us.

We had a lovely dinner at one of my favorite places in Mysore. Tina’s café and then, after a very very long day. We crashed..

epic

2012-01-17T19:21:00.001-08:00

Epic.

Day 2 was spent with Kumar. He is the master of many things, one of which includes, epic and amazing journeys. He was kind enough to take a day off of work and take the ladies and I to a beautiful temple outside of Mysore.

We left in the morning, and drove to Melkote, a region about 1.5 hours outside of Mysore. The main Temple at Melkote is a temple for Narasima, a lion God and incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Although, we are not sure exactly how old the temple is, it is nearly 2000 years old. In India, temples are built, on the highest spot, to be closer to the heavens. So, we climbed the well worn stairs to the top and were blessed by Narasima. The carvings at this temple were magnificent. The energy was strong and we all enjoy a fresh coconut on our way back down.

Many people who are trying to have babies go to this temple at Melkote and pray to the God. If they then conceive they return and thank the God at the temple as well as at our next stop, Kalyani, a 2000 year old bath.. surrounded by stairs on four sides down to the bath. We sat there for a minute.. and rested. We saw babies being dipped in the blessed (and dirty green) water and the happy parents thanking their Gods for the blessings of their child.

From there we enjoyed a beautiful snack prepared by Kumar’s wife. Idly is a steam rice and lentil cake. We dipped it in coconut chutney and we mmmmm’d our way through.. This time Latha (Kumar’s wife made special pumpkin idly and it was fantastic).

We drove from there to a special spot with no name and no explanation, but kumar thinks they were going to build a temple there and never finished. It is a beautiful spot with intricately engraved columns.

On we went to Sri Rangapathnum.. phew.. the day is not over yet.

Another temple, this one to the Lord Vishnu, in his laying down form. It turned out to be an auspicious day. They had just dipped his entire body in butter and decorated him. I don’t know the significance, but there were hundreds of us there waiting in line for peak of Vishnu and his blessings…

We then had a cup of chai by the river, watching people dip there bodies in to receive her sacred treasures of healing and protection.

Then to the summer palace of Tipu Sultan, the man who defended and protected the Mysore area!

All that by 3pm and we had lunch waiting for us at Kumar’s house. Wow.. We were all speechless, after such a lovely day and amazing meal of bissy belli bhat, curd rice, wada, coconut chutney, special dosa. Mmmmmmmm

We all felt completely blessed.. Day two ended with some wine and beer in the gorgeous garden of our hotel… zzzzzz goodnight.

shankranti 2012

2012-01-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a short video of our experience of Shankranti, the harvest festival devoted to the cow.. thanking the cows for all they give us! Enjoy.

S. India tour; day 1, Bounty

2012-01-15T17:51:00.000-08:00

Day 1.

Bounty.

Today is Shankranti, the harvest festival. A day to be thankful for the fruits of the labors of the cow. Kumar said, “We are worshipping the cow like our mother, because the cow gives us milk.”

It is day 1 of the 2012 S. India tour. We’ve had an adventure to say the least.
The ladies arrived from Bangalore around 11 this morning. They settled in and we had a meeting to go over the ‘details’ of this journey. We had a fabulous lunch with many Indian delicacies.. mmmmmm…..

Kumar picked us up at 3:30 for the beginning of what was to be a grand adventure. First stop; Chamundi Hill. The Goddess Chamundeswari protects all. We explored the top of the hill and entered the sacred temple hoping to receive her blessing for a safe journey. In my mind an auspicious way to start.

Kumar suggested we walk part of the way down to the big Nandi Bull and he would pick us up. We agreed it was a fabulous idea. There are over 1000 steps to get up to the top of Chamundi Hill. We did not climb them today, but it was fun to walk part of that path down to the sacred Nandi Bull (Shiva’s vehicle). Kumar was waiting there for us.

On we went to a spectacular event. The running of the ‘bulls’ of sorts.. During Shankranti, people decorate their cows in honor of the festival and bring them to an event where the cows jump over the fire. We drove down from Chamundi to an open field and Kumar said, ‘Here we will see the cows jump over the fire’. So we parked and thought maybe we should leave and come back, but suddenly, we heard drums and 20-30 decorated cows proceeded around a corner running toward us.. We all kind of hid behind the car and the cows ran past us. It was totally amazing. We followed them into the field and took photos. They stood throughout the field in their colorful array of decoration. Kumar said to me, “Samia, shall we go to the rooftop?” The owner of the building across the street invited us up to the best view in the house. It was quite amazing! We were so lucky and everyone was excited. After they lit the fire and the cows ran through, it was said and done in 1 minute and 45seconds. We all felt like we had to come down after that high.. Emily said, ‘Ok, now that I saw that, I can go back to NY.”

But, we had more plans for the evening. Kumar took us to the temple near his home and we had coffee with his family and then on to the palace. In Mysore the palace only lights up on Sunday nights. We drove there and as we were driving the lights disappeared ☹, we approached the palace and everyone was coming out. Kumar, convinced the guards to let us in. So, we swam upstream and saw the majestic palace, in the company of each other. Then, the police came and told us to leave.. We snuck in a few more shots and Kumar took us back to our hotel..

Phew.. that’s a lot for 4 hours.. Today we are off on another adventure..

The luck of the draw

2012-01-08T20:49:00.001-08:00

I just spent 2 lovely (and kind of crazy) weeks on Koh Phangan, a Thai island. The energy there was strong. I thought I would be relaxing on the beach with some friends, but little did I know, we ended up spending many nights dancing til the sun came up. I think I’ve had my dose of that for a long while and am happy to be in India now.

But before I go into my India love. I must tell this story. I arrived in Bangkok the day before my departure to India. I wanted to wander a bit, see some temples, do the tourist thing (for a few hours at least). Just outside my guesthouse, a tuk-tuk (rickshaw) driver was sitting, I went up to him to discuss.. And out of nowhere a man came up and started talking all about Buddha week and how lucky it was to be here etc..

He asked if I had a map. I did. So I gave it to him. It was perfect because I didn’t really know where I wanted to go. He started numbering places on the map. First go here, from there go here and so on.. He marked several places which would add up to a nice day of touring. Perfect and all for $1 in the rickshaw. Wow. How could that be?? Only $1 for being driven around all day. I was a bit skeptical of this good news, but I went with the flow and knew if the energy shifted I could jump out. So.. first stop, Big Buddha. There is a huge standing Buddha just around the corner from my guesthouse.. and it’s not on the map. It was beautiful. Second stop.. Thai export showroom, this is where the glitch in the plan came, but it was fine. During this Buddha week, there are all these showrooms open and everyone can buy high quality jewelry and not have to pay tax. Plus the drivers get a coupon and make money taking people, like me to these places. It didn’t bother me, I thought it would be fun to look at the jewelry, it was ok. Totally not my style, but nice to look at. Next stop black Buddha, this was my favorite temple. It was serene and surrounded by many black Buddha’s, each Buddha was sitting in a different position representing something auspicious. I felt calm and excited at the same time. It was absolutely gorgeous. Next stop the Lucky Buddha.

Now this was amazing. It is only open to the public one day a year and it just happened to be the day I was there. It was non-descript and definitely not all fancy like all the other temples, there was only one man there, praying for good luck to his family. He spoke for a while telling me how lucky I am to be here today and that tourists never come here. I gave Buddha a little bow and did some prayers for myself and others and spoke to the man for a bit. He explained the subsidized driving and the export expo and Buddha week. He kept saying you are so lucky!

It’s true, I am a very lucky person. Go with the flow and let the feeling take me. That’s what I like to do. Traveling expands my being and I feel so lucky.. so very very lucky!

And there she was

2011-12-22T03:09:00.000-08:00

Last night, I arrived in Bangkok after a long journey from Seattle.. It’s the first day of my big adventure. I woke up after 4 hours of sleep and thought.. Hmmm.. What should I do today? So, I booked a 2 hour massage, 1 hour thai massage and 1 hour reflexology. mmmm.. They were great.

The next most logical thing to do was have lunch.. So I did.. It was only 1:30p and I thought. This is my only day in Bangkok, what would I like to spend the rest of the day doing? I asked the owner of The Shanti Lodge (my guesthouse in Bangkok), if he knew of any good walking tours and he replied. “Well, what do you like to do?” I told him, 'I like to walk and look, and maybe go to a market or someplace interesting.' He said. “You should go to Koh Kret” I said, 'Sounds great.'

The word Koh, in Thai means island. I hadn’t really thought of that before I embarked on my expedition, but it didn’t matter. I hopped on the express water taxi near my guesthouse and asked the conductor where I should get off.. 40 minutes later, we were outside of Bangkok and she told me to get off here and to follow this young man with a camera.. So, I did..

He lead me to a man with a half way buttoned up orange shirt, red eyes and no front teeth.. The photographer, talked to the orange shirted man for a few minutes and finally looked at me and said 600baht.. Before I even thought to bargain or realize I was probably paying way too much. I handed the red eyed man 600baht and he ran away. The photographer motioned for me to follow him to a pier.. I did!

My boat man arrived in a totally pimped out canoe, freshly painted red with a badass motor and a 4 foot exhaust pipe. I hoped in and we were off. I sat with the wind in my hair for another 20 minutes reversing the positive effects of the massage (bu-bump bu-bump bu-bump), but that’s ok.. It was awesome. 20 minutes later we arrived on Koh Kret.

It is beautiful. I arrived at a complex of Buddhist temples which I walked through and then wandered around the small walkways of this tiny island. The walkways connect homes. There are no streets and I could see the residents were still trying to make their way back from the destruction of the floods two months ago. It was an interesting place, very calm and quite nice.

I started to head back to the boat, but had 15 minutes before my badass boat driver was to come and get me.

So, I decided to enter one of the Buddhist temples to meditate. I sat there for a bit and suddenly..

There she was..

An older woman sat right next to me and took my hand and ran her fingers along the lines. She studied them for a bit, looked at me with her aging eyes and gave me a big toothless smile and a thumbs up. We proceeded to have a very lively conversation.. Not understanding a word the other said. She took my prayer beads and showed me how to use them. Then she counted to beads to make sure they were the right number. She took my hand again and looked at my palm..

Another thumbs up.

What more can I say?

We silently left and I helped her down the stairs.

I got back on the boat and we sped back to Bangkok.

land of magic!

2011-10-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

I heard about it 2 years ago. It had been in my mind since then. A quiet island in the middle of the backwaters of Kerala. This year, the opportunity arose and I took it.

I stayed on the island only 24 hours, but it seemed like it was days, as time completely shifted to something slower. The taxi dropped me off, and the dirver said to me, “you take canoe taxi to the other side.” We waited for a bit and a man in a hand carved canoe arrived from the other side of the water, we put my luggage in and paddled to the other side. I exhaled.

The island does not have roads, or even motorized vehicles. It is quiet and tranquil. It has walking trails and they weave in and out of rice paddies and waterways. I felt like I was in a different world, at a different time. It was so laid back and so wonderful.

I settled in, and they served us lunch, a beautiful tasty Keralan lunch. And yet again, I had to pinch myself. I had also heard the guesthouse led tours around the island and I wanted to take one. That evening we left on a wonderful 3 hour walk, learning about the plants, the culture of the island, the rice paddies, and much more. It ended with a canoe ride back to the guesthouse singing folks songs.

There is only one guesthouse on this island, it is still very very traditional. People take water taxi’s to get around and walk everywhere. It was an absolutely amazing experience and we are going here for the tour I am leading in January.

There are 2 spots still available if you are a woman and would like to see some of traditional S. India. Please contact me!

Tour to S. India
January 15-28, 2012

magic moments

2011-10-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

For the last several days, I’ve been with my teacher and his family in a remote part of N. Kerala on the shores of the Arabian Sea. It’s been a wonderful, relaxing and very HOT (and humid) time.

Yesterday, we traveled to Thelacherri a city nearby, to deliver 3 pieces of gold jewelry Balan had made. To get there we walk along a palm lined path to the tiny winding road, catch an over packed bus to the main road and then another bus to the city. We got off the bus, took a rickshaw to the small goldsmith workshop of Balan’s (my teacher) brother. He did a little work for Balan and we took a short cut to Balan’s other brothers gold jewelry showroom.

This is where I would like to pause for a moment.. You see, sometimes this amazing experience becomes like any other day. And I need to really pinch myself to say no Samia, this is extraordinarily special. The magic hit me as we were taking a short cut to his other brother’s showroom. It was a small path between busy roads, along it were tiny goldsmith shops and one man sitting his shop sitting with his back against the wall weaving leather around a wooden drum. He was a drum maker. Something about the tranquility of the moment, the space and the light beaming into the space, made me squeal with excitement. I had to stop and sit with him for a few moments. It was beautiful, silent and sweet. It was the magic moment that popped me out of my mind and back into my heart. It was real and I am feeling so blessed.

We left the shop, found our way to busy road and sat with his brother and drank chai.

It's the little things

2011-10-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

India! Everyday, I see something I have not seen before. Every moment is filled with creativity. In India they say ‘anything is possible’ and I love it because they believe and it is true. We have such a different mindset in the west. It’s the small things I see here that I love so much.

A man riding his bicycle down the middle of the street cleaning his ear with a Q-tip.
The sparkling sari’s wrapped around gracefully walking women.
Men soldering the finger grips on a pair of scissors.
Eunuchs dressed as women aggressively begging for money.
A horse + buggy, a street sweeping machine, a cow and a bus driving next to each other on the street.
Coconut stands on every corner

The list goes on and on. My point is, there is never a dull moment. Day to day life is full of color, is out in the open and never gets old. India shows me there is a different way to do things, puts a smile on my face and has given me so many blessings!

photos soon.

Kumar story #1. Saraswati & the diamond pendant

2011-10-08T01:20:00.000-07:00

Oh Kumar. He is so sweet. Last year one of my friends wanted a navaratna ring made. Kumar loves making navaratna rings because they are auspicious and very powerful. It means nine precious stones and each stone represents a different Indian god and a different planet, all aligned perfectly to help the wearer in their life.

My friend gave me an old ring she had, she wanted to use the gold for her new ring, but she said, please give the diamond to Kumar as a gift. When I told this to Kumar (see story from last year here), he could not believe it. He said, “Samia, someone from America is giving me a diamond?” As a hardworking goldsmith, this is a grand gift. He was very happy. He took it home, showed it to his family, his friends. He thought for weeks about what he was going to do with it. He didn’t know if he would sell it, or make a piece of jewelry for his wife or what? Several weeks later, he said to me, “Samia, I am thinking I will make one gold pendant with the diamond placed in the middle and I will give it to the Saraswati temple as an offering.” Here he is, he could have done so many things with this diamond and he chose to give it to the gods.

Saraswati is the Indian goddess of wisdom, music, arts and science. She is very revered throughout India.

When I saw Kumar the other day, he said to me. “Samia if you would have arrived a few days back you could have seen the pendant I made for Saraswati.” He made the pendant and on the auspicious day of the Goddess during their yearly festival of Dasara, Kumar went to the temple and offered the Goddess the pendant of gold and diamond. It was beautiful (if only I had a photo). He was so happy.

The temple in return gave his wife a handwoven silk sari. A sari that had been blessed by the priests and had been worn by the Saraswati Statue at the Temple. A very auspicious gift indeed.

In the end, everyone is happy. I asked Kumar why he decided to give it to Saraswati versus other Indian goddesses. He said, “Because she is the holder of knowledge. I want my children to have much knowledge so they can live a life of happiness.”

day 2. flow

2011-10-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

Day 2.

Well, it all started with my early morning, 3 am. I did a little yoga and proceeded to read until it was time for breakfast at 7. At 10, I checked out of my hotel in hopes, I would find a place to live for the next month. It seemed it would happen as I had 3 people looking for me. One of whom showed me several places, none of them very nice. Quite dingy actually. I told myself, if worse came to worse, I would just take one of them. Around 1pm, I still hadn’t found anything and decided to go out on my own and literally start knocking on doors to see if there was a flat available. Of course, I started this adventure with a place in mind. I marched over there, the owner was sitting on his porch, I asked if his flat was available and it was.. It was that easy! It was on the low end of my budget and it had all the necessities I was looking for. What more could I ask for?

From there, I hopped in a rickshaw, and went to visit Kumar, I had not seen him yet and he has a new workshop, it’s so much bigger 10X6. We chatted for a bit, his son was there with him. Then he said, ‘Samia, come to my house and eat a little bit, and then I will drive you home.’ So, of course I did that. And the food was AMAZING. And it was fun to see his family + I got to meet more of his extended family.

He took me home to my new little spot and I got a call from the airlines, my luggage was on it’s way. So, on the way to pick it up (at the hotel, I had stayed at the night before), I stopped by the internet store to get my internet broadband card recharged. The man told me, it would work the next day, but I plugged it in and boom, it worked. I asked him why it was working and he said, “madam, I have no idea.” Ok no more questions.

I left, picked up my luggage with all my items inside, and took a rickshaw back to my new flat.

It’s interesting how the day just flowed perfectly, I was never rushed, it all worked out in perfect order and I got everything I needed to done.. I must cherish that moment in time as I know, it will not always be such.

I have a wonderful Kumar story to share soon. Keep on reading..

day 1. unexpectedly super chill.

2011-10-06T19:42:00.001-07:00

12 hours is a long time to lay horizontal, but somehow I just did it.

After arriving at 4 am yesterday a big holiday in Mysore and spending some of the day looking for a flat, with no luck, largely due to the holiday, I came back to my hotel, had a rather large lunch and came back to my room to read and take a ‘nap’. I think this may be the first time I’ve napped in the middle of the day on the first day of traveling half way around the world. At home it would have been 2:30 in the morning. Here it was 3 in the after noon. I peacefully read for an hour and then, I fell asleep, uh oh. And woke up at 7pm. I thought oh I should get up and go out and do something so I can sleep tonight, but instead, I put my pajamas on and curled up with my earplugs and fell back asleep, until 8:30 when Kumar excitedly called… ‘Samia you are arriving in Mysore. This is very good. I have been busy with my relations due to a big festival function today.” I pretended I was awake and engaged, while listening and nodding, not that he could see me. We hung up and I went back to sleep. This time for 3 hours, waking thinking for sure it was at least morning and I could get up and do some yoga and be awake for the day. But it was only 11:30pm. What to do? I thought to myself, if I ‘get up’ now, I will not stay awake all day and I may make the same mistake I made today and ‘nap’ too early. So, I rolled over and took a deep breath in and tried to fall asleep and did. Yay! Until 3:30, which is what time it is now and I feel like it is ok to be awake, as I did actually sleep 12 hours.

In some ways it’s great, when I fell asleep I had had a sore throat that kept getting more sore as the day went on. I had bought some throat lozenges and drank hot tea before I took my ‘nap’ and now my throat feels totally fine.

Unfortunately, I slept through the ‘big festival function’ which I somewhat regret as I love new experiences. But it’s ok, Diwali is soon and I know I won’t sleep through that.

During my time away from the hotel yesterday, I recharged my mobile phone with 360rs, looked at 4 flats, none of which will work for me and drank one fresh yummy coconut. When I returned, Air France called me and told me my luggage would arrive Friday afternoon. Which is 3 days after I left. I hope they are correct.

I have 3 people searching for apartments for me. I absolutely LOVE looking at flats. So, I will keep looking until I find one I like and the price is right. So, today should be fun. Plus, I will go and see Kumar and start working on our jewelry.

India!!

2011-10-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

I made it. Again. Although this time it is somehow different. It’s my 10th time to India. I’ve spent 2 years of my life here. I love it so much!

My luggage didn’t arrive, so I have to deal with that today in my jetlagged haze, it’s not that big of a deal, other than my sunglasses. I had a premonition before I left to switch my sunglasses to a different bag, I forgot and alas the suitcase with my sunglasses didn’t arrive. So, after, an hour or so at the airport talking with the Air France representative and the customs dude, I walked out to the crowd of people waiting and saw my name “Welcome Samia Shalabi” We walked to the car and off we went at 1 in the morning. After 40 hours of travel 3 more were small peanuts.

At 4 am we arrived at the hotel. We knocked on the gate, blew the horn and knocked some more. No one came. We continued. And suddenly a nice young man came to open the gate. I’m staying at the Green Hotel, it’s my first time staying here. I’ve been eating here since 2003, but always stay at a less expensive place in the city until I find a flat. I am sitting in the garden now enjoying the view, the blue skies, the perfect temperature.

Today is a big festival day called Dasara.. I don’t know what it is all about, it’s my first time in Mysore in October. It should be fun.

day of departure

2011-10-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

It all started with a phone call on Monday morning. A random number, I thought maybe it was a client calling. But no, it was Air France. They asked me if I would be willing to switch flights and receive a $400 voucher for future travel. They gave me the details and it actually worked out in my favor, in terms of layovers etc.

I arrived at SeaTac airport early this morning, and checked in to my flight. Seattle to New York. New York to Paris. Paris to Bangalore. It’s a long haul. I was sitting at the gate to board my plane to NY and they called my name. I got upgraded to First Class. Somehow this upgrade karma has been working for me lately and I can’t complain. It’s great.

Now, I am sitting in the Air France lounge in NY. It seems strange to partake in such luxury as I am on my way to India, but again, I’m not complaining, just observing.

I am looking forward to this journey, one month in India. A time for me to ponder after a summer of difficulties. It will be wonderful to meet with Kumar and make beautiful jewelry. It will be amazing to sit by the Arabian Sea and make gold chains with Balan.

Sometimes, I have to blink and ask myself. Is this really my life?

HUGE online gold sale this Friday and Saturday!

2011-08-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

The sale is coming up.. It's buzzing around here with questions about certain pieces and I don't know, the energy is just different. With gold prices where they are these days, it is unheard of to have a 40% off on all one of a kind gold jewelry, but hey just call me crazy and leave it at that.

If you would like to take part of the unprecedented 40% off sale you must sign up on our email list here

The sale is August 26 & 27 only!!

click here for a peak of all the jewels that will be on sale

GOLD SALE 40% OFF

2011-08-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hi There... Very soon something exciting is going to happen here at Karazi Design. I am offering a one time only 40% off one of a kind gold jewelry. We've just set up a NEW online store, check it out here

The sale will be August 26 & 27. In order to take part in the sale, you must sign up for our online newsletter here. You will receive information on how to get this amazing deal.. This totally amazing deal!

what's been going down!!

2011-07-20T14:42:00.001-07:00

Ok, so it has been awhile. It's actually been my longest hiatus from blogging ever.. Hopefully, the lull is over.

Just because, my fingers have not been typing does not mean, I have not been working them. The past month has been BUSY around here, filling orders for many stores, designing and making new pieces and ok, well, I've been chilling a bit too.. It is summer after all.

Here are the brand new pieces online in my Etsy shop

Plus you can find brand new Karazi Design jewelry

in Seattle at:
KOBO in Capitol Hill and Japantown
Essenza,
Les Amis,
Vixen,

in Tacoma at:
The Museum of Glass

somewhere on the Mediterranean between Athens and Istanbul:
Windstar Cruises

NY, Deception and Vixen

2011-06-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

Ok well, the cleanse came and went.. My final words; IT WAS AWESOME! I haven't felt better in ages.. LOVED IT and will do it again.

Since then, I have been to NY, visting girlfriends and pretty much had the best time ever.. Thank god for girlfriends. Ladies, what would we do without them? Thanks to all you wonderful ladies in the world and thanks to all my ladies in the world. You are the best!

Saturday we had a lovely little trunk show at Vixen in Seattle, it was so much fun.. The weather was perfect so we decided to do it outside. It was a great event, I met so many new people and had a wonderful time.. Plus a little bit of bubbly Saturday afternoon can't hurt.

Sunday Steven and I went on a motorcycle ride out to Deception Pass on Whidbey Island, here in Washington. It was an absolutely perfect day for a ride and the pass is out of this world beautiful.

This week, I am delivering a large selection of new jewels to KOBO in Capitol Hill and the International District. So, if you are in the area in the next week or so.. Stop by and check them out.

minus the pain.

2011-05-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

A big shift happened in the last couple of days, I'm on day 14 of this cleanse. I'm one of those people who suffers from physical pain, in my joints, my back etc.. I exercise and do yoga to control it. But a few days ago, suddenly, the pain completely disappeared, just gone and my body became more agile and limber. I am amazed at this. It feels so good. I've also noticed, I'm waking up earlier each morning, and easily getting out of bed feeling rested. The cleanse is working and I feel great! One more week to go.

On another note...

NEW JEWELS at VIXEN starting Wednesday May 25.

PLUS

trunk show at Vixen
Saturday, June 4
12-4
3209 W. McGraw St.
Seattle, Wa 98199

day 7. pizza, cocktails and pie. what more can I say?

2011-05-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

The weekend was by far the hardest part of the cleanse so far. Here is a glimpse of my weekend of self discipline...

Two years ago, we built a cobb, wood fired pizza oven in our back yard. We share this space and the oven with our neighbors. And I'd have to say (no biased of course), we make the best, totally kick ass amazing pizzas in it.. And I love pizza.. The oven was fired up and a party commenced in my backyard on Friday. Unfortunately, this is a no pizza kind of cleanse.So, I ran away and went out to eat with friends, although, while they had cocktails and wine and other amazing delicacies, I munched on leafy greens with a half smile on my face (I realize I am choosing to do this cleanse. It doesn't mean, it's easy to watch others eat pure yumminess).

Saturday.. My mother in law was visiting and we had a rare sunny day. So, we decided to walk down to Pike Place Market. It just happened to be Seattle Cheese Fest.. Are you fucking kidding me?? Cheese fest?? I love cheese, I am from Wisconsin. Anyway, while they were running with joy to each booth sampling the mouth watering perfection of cheese, I very casually stepped aside and people watched. It wasn't so hard, but it was annoying watching Steven leap from one booth to the next exclaiming the wonderful sensation and flavor in his mouth.

Saturday night.. We had dinner at our friends house. It was super fun and all the food was eatable for me.. Then the dessert came. chocolate mousse cream pie. did you read that? chocolate mousse cream pie. made in a pie shop. sigh.. Yes, that is what I did as I watched my 6 table partners savor the mouth watering sweetness of all good ingredients combined.

Sunday. Rain.. We went to a movie. It got out just before we had to bring my mother in law to the airport. So, guess what we did? Went out for pizza. OMFG! Is all I have to say.

You'd think after all that discipline, I could have at least got on the scale this morning with some positive feedback. Oh no, this woman is holding steady.. ugh.

The conclusion is that being a hermit, making my own food at home is a much simpler way for me to do this cleanse. Going out to eat, not so much fun. But I'm sure I'll do it all over again next weekend.

the sun is out!

2011-05-13T13:38:00.001-07:00

The sun is out!! The sun is out!! This is a rare 2011 appearance in Seattle and I am so thankful. It's been such a difficult year of gray.. blah.. blah.. gray.. So, I decided, after I made jewelry this morning (coral & prehnite necklaces, lava & vesuviante & ruby necklaces, pyrite & silver, and more), I am going on a bike ride and playing in my garden this afternoon.

Day 4 of cleanse. I feel like there is nothing to report, this is the easiest most amazing cleanse I've done. EVER! I have more energy, I'm not hungry at all, actually, I'm stuffed after my one big meal of the day. Today I made dhal and rice mmmmmm. I'd have to say the hardest part, for me, is the pre-prep for food making, like getting it all figured out the day before.. This is sooooooo not my personality, but it's a good lesson for me and it actually calms me down a bit. So, I guess that is good. They say the first week is the hardest, but so far so good.. Maybe my breakdown will happen next week. I'll keep you posted.

reset: Day 2

2011-05-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

As an artist who works for myself, sometimes (well all the time) I lack a schedule. It is partially my personality and partially the nature of the job. So, self motivation is a huge factor in getting anything done. Luckily, I'm a motivated person and most of the time feel inspired to make jewelry or work on the business side of things...

I'm on day 2 of my cleanse and so far it is great. One of the things I like about it, is that it forces me to be on a schedule and therefore it is not only (hopefully) going to cleanse me, it is also going to help me organize my days. I've been sooooo productive the last two days. Yay!!

Including bringing even more new jewelry to Essenza in Seattle, they are now carrying my silver & gold & diamond rings. Retailing for only $90. You can also buy them online here.

This cleanse is not a calorie reducing diet, although, I will probably eat less calories. I'm having yummy shakes with fruits and veggies one big meal a day where I can only eat certain foods another shake and another small small meal. It's pretty filling actually. I hope it continues to be this easy!

restart

2011-05-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering whether or not to share this journey with you. It seems like, well, this is my jewelry(ish) blog and it may not be appropriate. I thought some more and it is also my travel blog and I also share some of my feelings here and what is going on.. So, after all that thinking, I decided, yes, indeed, I am going to share with you this journey of my reset.

2011 has a pretty great year so far, but there is something missing. Like, I was sick for 5 weeks and then not sick for 2 and sick again for 2. My energy has been low and I have black circles under my eyes. My husband said, 'Welcome to 35' I said, 'I'm out of balance.' I went to the Dr. nothing is 'wrong'. So, I am starting a 21 day cleanse in the next few days. And I am sooooo excited. Cleansing is nothing new to me, I typically do it 2 times a year, but I have never done it for 21 days!

Like I said, I'm going to write about my reset and it's going to be personal. I would love to hear from you during this journey and I will still keep you updated on jewelry stuff and travel stuff (because I am going to NYC in a few weeks) as well.

nostalgia prevails

2011-05-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

Oh what a week! I flew home to be with my family and see my peeps here in Wisconsin. It's so nostalgic for me, as I grew up in a gorgeous, tiny little town along the Wisconsin River, close enough to Madison to have an escape, but not too close. It's the kind of town where, large old Victorian houses stand and nature winds through, where everyone knows everyone and secrets are few. It's the kind of place where neighbors help neighbors and where people stay. For me it was quite magical, yet I had to get away! It's so nice to come back and say hello for a bit.

While here Karazi Design added another location. Karazi Design jewelry will soon be at the beautiful Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

New jewels at Ancient Healing in my hometown Sauk City

And I was interviewed about my art, jewelry, and music by Deborah Crooks. You can read the interview here.

feeling free!!

2011-04-29T11:40:00.001-07:00

Feeling free today.. I love that feeling. I'm packing my bags and going to Wisconsin, going to visit family and friends and hopefully see some sunshine (although, I heard they aren't having much either) and sing music and play with jewelry.

Yesterday, I dropped off my entire new collections The Roman Coin collection and New spring (ruby, diopside, pearl) collection at Essenza in Seattle. So, if you are here in Seattle and want to check it out in person, you know where to go. All pieces are one of a kind. Enjoy!

Happy Earth Day! the perfect spring jewels

2011-04-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Earth Day is the best.. A wonderful day to reflect and thank mother earth for all she does for us all the time, everyday. It's a great day to step back and think about how we tread upon her and how, maybe we can tread a little lighter to give her some massive love and respect and then try to carry that thought on throughout the year!

HAPPY EARTH DAY TO YOU!

Even though I'm feeling a lot better than the other day, it's so easy (for me) to find the negative when I'm feeling blah, ugh, wa wa... But things are looking up and it's been busy around here. Music writing has commenced, once again, jewelry making is in full on spring swing! Plus, I've added NEW pieces of jewelry to my online etsy store. It's been a while. So, please, take a look.

roman coin earrings! one of a kind set in 20k gold accented with rough diamonds.
ruby + diopside + matted gold + gunmetal silver = new necklace
gorgeous green raw diopside + gunmetal silver = perfect spring necklace
+ earrings to match!

Etsy
karazidesign

poor me :(

2011-04-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to take a minute to complain and then I will go back to regular programming.. Somehow, just after getting over FIVE WEEKS of illness, I am sick again.. AGAIN! Damn it. The kind of in bed, fever, achy, sore throat, coughing, can't breath kind of slow down. The kind of yucky yuck, that just teases me with ok, I guess I sort feel better, I'll try to leave the house today and get a few things done and then, another cough attack happens and I can't breath and start frantically looking for the glass of water I left somewhere and decide maybe I should get back into bed and maybe not run those errands.

But alas, somehow, I did get a bit of work done today and did get out of the house (between cough attacks, and feverish sweats) and I did watch tv (on the computer), which I never do and it was kind of fun. So, I guess, other than feeling like total shit, it's ok to be a bit sick and have the universe tell me to slow down.

So here is what I did today.. photos of some new jewels soon on etsy.

Roman coin collection

2011-04-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here they are.. Well some of them anyway. A collaboration of thousands of years and thousands of miles. Ancient Roman coin jewelry the 2011 Karazi Design collection. These bronze coins are close to 2000 years old and were found underneath Jerusalem, which is where I bought them. while in India I collaborated with my teacher, and we made them into beautiful jewelry, set in 20k gold and accented with rough diamonds. Each piece is one of a kind and only a few are for sale. Please contact me if you are interested in hearing more or seeing them in person.

photos by Rupert Lorhaldar

goings on...

2011-04-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

It's been kind of crazy around here. First of all, I've been sick and have been sleeping a lot, which isn't really my style. It's slowed me down a bunch in the midst of spring orders. Everything seems to be falling into place now, with my cold (after 5 weeks) leaving my body and my orders almost finished. I can exhale and start on the next projects including posting new jewelry in the etsy shop.

In the meantime check out this really cool blog called THE STYLE PROJECT HERE by my friend Chloe in Madison, WI. She has a fashion blog and featured some vintage Karazi Design from when I first started making jewelry several years ago. I told her I may have to bring that one back. What do you think?

the photo is from The Style Project and is taken by paul sirianni

The making(s) of a 'fine' gold chain

2011-03-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

My trip to India was a great success.. And what I mean by success is; creating relationships, having fun and working hard. All of which I did and all of which were great.

My work in India is multi-dimensional, while it is stimulating to my creative side, I also produce a lot while I am there. I do buying, I design and I make jewelry with my two teachers.

One of my teachers is Balan and he lives in a remote part of N. Kerala. He is an amazing man with a wonderful family. He is 66 years old and works 12 hours a day hunched over a fire to make beautiful gold jewelry. One of my objectives is to learn from him, but another is to make jewelry with him, pay him fairly for his painstakingly hard work and hopefully help contribute to the well being of his beautiful family.

Here he is making a 20k gold chain from scratch, over a fire, using a blowpipe torch and coconut shells. This is the ancient way of making jewelry, it is a dying art. I have 3 available. Please email me if you are interested in a handmade 20k gold chain. 2) 17" chains and 1) 16" chain

making wire

putting tiny solder chips on the chain before soldering

soldering the chain

polishing and flattening a custom chain we made

beautiful gold chains

searching for the serene.. goodbye India.

2011-03-09T02:01:00.000-08:00

I suppose, for me, life is mostly about trying to find the serene amidst all the chaos and ups and downs.

Some days and some places, this practice is more difficult than others. North India is one of those places. It shoves all that chaos right in your face and puts it on spin cycle, with its extremes and it’s non-decibel regulated horns. Ugh.. It’s my last few hours in India and let’s say, I’m having a difficult time finding the serene, here in Jaipur. The north of India is so very different from the south. Cities are so much more full on than the villages. Maybe you can tell, I’m having a rough day. It goes along with being in India. There are the amazing ones and then suddenly, there are the difficult ones, both being full on extremes.. Maybe I’m feeling sad because I am leaving. I know I am irritable because I’m not feeling well and now I just returned to my guesthouse to rest, but there is a screaming baby outside my door.. Oh India, testing me for the last few hours, making my practice very difficult and never dishing out the expected..

I remember, I wrote before I left.. There is one thing to be expected in India and that is, the unexpected.

My parting words are of love and once again, I want to thank Mother India for all she is and has..

As I sat on the back of the bicycle rickshaw today, I did find some serene. The stillness within the loudness, the chaos and the dust. I sat with the wind in my hair and smiled.

don't worry. it is no problem

2011-02-27T01:19:00.000-08:00

Everything is possible…Yes yes, don’t worry… It is no problem..

A few of my favorite, often heard Indian phrases and somehow, it’s true, everything just seems to work out. In the final hour, at the last minute, just when you think there is absolutely no way in hell this is going to happen…Then, suddenly as my teacher Kumar says, “magic is there.”

We were on the road, driving the motorbike up up up, through the lush and winding coorg hills. And suddenly, the bike stopped, we were (at least we thought) 40 km away from anything remotely, village like. So, we pushed the bike into the shade and I said to Steven, “First let’s have a snack, and then, we will worry about the bike.” So, we stood in the shade on a beautiful road, and snacked on the snacks our Indian family had packed, homemade potato chips, chat, and a large ball of something sweet. Mmmmm…

Then, before we actually even looked at the bike, we made a plan. It seemed as if the bike was out of gas, although it shouldn’t have been because we had filled it just before departing. Our plan A, we would switch it to the reserve tank and it would make it to the nearest gas station (ha, pretty optimistic). Our plan B, if no reserve, I would hitch a ride to the nearest gas station while Steven waited with the bike, get gas and hitch a ride back. Our plan C, if it wasn’t a gas problem… well we didn’t think about that.

So, Steven turned on the reserve tank, and bam.. it started. Yay!! Part 1 of plan A worked, but we also knew we only had 1 liter, didn’t exactly know where the nearest petrol station was and knew the bike was guzzling gas at a faster rate than 30 km/liter. We also knew the biggest town was 40 km away. We crossed our fingers and hopped part 2 of plan A would work. About 10km from there, was a lovely little petrol station. Yay!!

We then, called the guesthouse we were staying at to tell them where we were and when we would be arriving. About 30 minutes later, we arrived, in the town nearest the guesthouse. We pulled over to figure out what we were going to do about lunch and suddenly a jeep pulled up next to us and the man inside said, “ Hello, Steven?” OMG!… It was the guesthouse owner. I guess he was just hanging out in town waiting for two white people to go by on a motorbike. He lead us to a little restaurant, we ate and then we followed him through miles of coffee plantations, to his own. We spent the night as the only guests at a gorgeous guesthouse high in the hills of Coorg. We wrote music and sang and played and had a wonderful time!

It is no problem. No problem at all.

Amama

2011-02-23T08:32:00.000-08:00

Amama was 95, and healthy.

It’s been one year, since she passed away peacefully

There was ceremony

There were prayers

And now Her soul is now free.

click here for a little story I wrote about her last year, just before her passing

Kerala..

2011-02-21T22:03:00.000-08:00

Several days have passed and I have a lot to catch up on, but here is a glimpse into our second day of riding.

We traveled from the lush hills of Coorg through the rice paddies, and coffee plantations along the tiny windy roads, with no traffic, and beautiful scenery. How do I describe how I felt on the back of the Enfield? It may be indescribable. It was definitely a moment of freedom, and happiness.
We drove down down down out of the hills of Karnataka and into Kerala, and even though we were amongst the subtleness of simple life, India did not disappoint. We saw, more than one person, carrying a tree, yes, a tree, an entire tree trunk of bamboo, which is used as a ladder, to help with harvesting pepper off of the vine which grows high on trees. We saw overloaded, wagons carrying hay, we saw a man walking over 100 baby ducks. As usual, the unusual made me smile. Seemingly in a remote area, there are still people at every intersection, always in the right spot for us to ask if we were going in the correct direction.

After a few hours, we came to a road block where we reached the border, between the two states, Karnataka and Kerala. With an approving head wobble, they raised the divider and let us through. The temperature immediately changed from pleasant to oppressively hot. Welcome to Kerala and our heat and humidity…

The drive to Kannur was not as pleasant, but still an adventure, more traffic, more towns, and a lot of heat. We drove through several villages looking for a shady place to park and have something cool to drink, but somehow all the shaded places were welding shops. India is so funny. Finally, we just stopped and it felt good to get off the bike, walk around and drink a 7up.

We also had to pee, but it is always sooooooo unsatisfying to pee in India, especially as a woman. First, asking, and finding a toilet is not an easy task and then when one is found. It’s all hold your breath, close your eyes and get the hell out of there as fast as you can. So, I found a toilet and yes, it was unpleasant and Steven went after me and came back and said with a giggle, “ I don’t know what you find so unsatisfying about that.” I could write a whole book on Indian toilets and if you have not been, it’s impossible to understand in this short paragraph, but if you have been, then you know exactly what I am talking about.

We finally made it to our destination after 4 and a half hours of driving. It’s amazing here and I will write more about it later.

blowing in the wind

2011-02-16T08:14:00.000-08:00

We made it. Our first day of traveling by Enfield. I decided half way through, it's my favorite way to travel. Well, I have always loved being on the back of a motorbike in India, but this is the first time we actually have done an overnight and will be doing more over the next 10 days. We drove from Mysore to Bylakuppe, the Tibetan settlements in S. India. There we met our good friend and monk, and had a lovely lunch with him. We briefly attended a special puja (ceremony) and were back on the road.

And up up up through the hills and windy small roads of Coorg, the coffee region. Oh it is so green and beautiful and it is harvest season. We saw the coffee being harvested and laid in the sun to dry. It's quiet here.

Right now as we get ready to sleep, we can hear crickets, the moon is bright and the stars are shining.

I feel as if I have exhaled and really started to relax. Mysore is such an amazing place, but somehow, I always run around like a crazy person, working, doing this, doing that, making jewelry, etc... Now, it's chill out time, observation time. Time to breathe and ride, ride into the wind.

new adventure! new jewelry!

2011-02-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

As we get ready to go on our motorbike adventure to Kerala. I am finishing up here in Mysore. Phew... The last days are always hectic, it seems as if it will not get done and suddenly, miraculously, it is finished, and perfect, just in the knick of time...

So, we will see. We leave here on Wed. morning and will journey off on our super ride. The 1993 Royal Enfield Bullet 350 (with carrier, of course)... oh I am excited..

Check out our new pieces and the Bullet! The pieces are limited and are for sale. if you are interested, please contact me via email.

sneaking a peek... golden goodies 2011

2011-02-10T07:03:00.001-08:00

This trip I am making a lot custom orders and a friend of mine gave me a gold and diamond ring. She asked if we could melt the gold and use it in her piece and she wanted to give the diamond to Kumar as a gift.

The other day, as I was sitting with Kumar in his shop, he asked me, 'Samia, you remember your friend? The one who has given me the diamond as a gift?'

I said, 'Yes, Kumar, I remember.'

He said, 'Well, I am thinking of also giving the diamond as a gift.'

I replied, 'Wow, Kumar, that is so kind. Who are you thinking of giving the diamond to?'

Kumar then says, 'Samia, not like that, not like that. There is one Goddess, her name is Saraswati. She is the Goddess of Wisdom and art and culture and there is one temple. I am thinking, I will make a nose ring or a pendant and give it to the Goddess Saraswati at the temple.'

How i love India. How I love Kumar.

So, I asked Kumar, 'How would you feel if I told my friend your idea?" he replied, "you MUST tell your friend my idea. It is necessary."

Kumar and I have been working very hard this week.. Here are a few photos of what we have been up to.

a thing of beauty.

2011-02-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

The other day. A long time friend, inspiring person and beautiful woman, came over to my little flat and created a work of (temporary) art on my hands. Oh how I love henna(mehendi)!

She squeezed the black mud type paste in gorgeous designs and voila 2 hours later. My hands were decorated with her creativity.

Manjula is amazing! She told me, about one month ago she attended a wedding and had mehendi on her hands. And she got soooooooo excited about it, she decided she wanted to learn how. So, for the past month she's been working hard, using her spare time to learn this art. I am so impressed she only started doing this. It is not a simple thing, but as you can see, she has talent.

After the 'mud' dries, little flakes of it fall off, the henna has at that point (one to two) hours later absorbed into the skin and become a temporary natural tattoo, and changes to a reddish, orangish, brown color. Henna comes from a small tree. It is from the dried leaves, that the 'mud' is made.

Thank you Manjula! I love it. And I am sooooooo happy for you.

a little slice of slow down

2011-02-03T06:14:00.001-08:00

The morning started early, with sun salutations followed by a lovely yoga practice in my room. Aaaahhh.. There is nothing quite like doing yoga in India.

A friend and I decided we were going to spend Tuesday afternoon walking from one side of the city of Mysore to the other side and up 1000 steps to the top of sacred Chamundi Hill.

We met for breakfast and we were on the road by 11:30. We meandered our way to the city, through the city, stopping when we felt the urge, for a coconut to drink, to take photos, to talk to people, to rest.

I was looking for the subtle. Walking is one of those magnificent ways of slowing life down and observing. We did not have a schedule, just a destination. We enjoyed the journey so much, talking of life and the meaning of it while wandering in the deepest sense of the word.

I’d have to say, it was inspiring, walking by all the magical things you see in India…A spider spinning an intricate web, women carrying buckets on their heads, cows in the street, monkeys running about. A little slice of slow down, was just what I needed.

We made it to the top of the 1000 stairs up to Chamundi Hill around 4:00, drank another coconut and somehow hitched a ride all the way home…

It was inspiring, beautiful and a lovely way to spend a Tuesday afternoon.

Inspiration gap

2011-01-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

Uh oh..It’s very strange, but somehow, I am not feeling inspired, here in India.

Steven and I had a talk a few months back about artistic inspiration and for me it comes from a few sources. One of them for me is travel

The excitement of new experiences and adventures uplifts my being into a space where I suddenly begin to create. This trip may be too familiar for me. I mean, I love it, don’t get me wrong. I love India and it’s people, but somehow, maybe I’m not having my normal emotional pull because, once again, I find myself in a familiar place, with familiar people, having familiar experiences.

I have been sitting in my room tonight thinking. Man, I just haven’t been blogging and usually being in India inspires me with so much material I don’t even know what to do with it.

Tomorrow, I know I shall have material. I am going on a long pilgrimage type walk with my girlfriend. We hope to walk from Gokulam, where we live in Mysore all the way up to Chamundi Hill, many miles away. It is going to be epic. And I am going to try to take photos of funny and unique things you only see in India.

So, wish us luck! I shall be back to let you know if we made it and how it went and hopefully full of stories and photos too.

Yesterday, I went to Bangalore to see the Dalai Lama and it was so amazing and wonderful to be in his presence and hear what he had to say for a couple of hours (from row 11 nonetheless)

Karazi Design jewelry available at these locations updated 8.29.11

2011-01-31T06:32:00.001-08:00

GOLD JEWELRY

essenza seattle.wa

KOBO seattle.wa (japan town + capitol hill)

museum of glass tacoma.wa

nomad cambridge.ma

BEADED JEWELRY

windstar cruises currently sailing in the mediterranean

les amis seattle.wa

KOBO seattle.wa (japan town + capitol hill)

colaizzo opticians seattle.wa

museum of glass tacoma.wa

vixen seattle.wa

kirkland arts center kirkland.wa

ancient healing sauk city.wi

madison museum of contemporary art madison.wi

SHOP ONLINE

gold

beads/stones

so much suffering...

2011-01-25T07:23:00.000-08:00

Melancholy day.. A lot of thinking, about all the suffering in this world, and how very fortunate I am. So very fortunate.

I sat with Kumar, my goldsmith teacher, tonight and we talked a bit about how the price of vegetables has quadrupled in the last year. I asked him how people are getting by and he told me, many people are not getting by.

It echoes what is going on around the rest of the world, but here it seems so much more raw... the reality is in your face, all the time. The struggle of the people here is huge. I'm talking about people who make maybe $3-5 a day working hard 12 hour days. How are they supposed to even buy food when the cost has gone up so much. Kumar told me the price of 1kg of onions was 10rupees (about $0.25) last year. Now it is 50rupees per kg that is over $1 just for onions. Imagine making $3 a day and trying to feed your family. So, difficult.

Anyway, that is what I thought about, a lot... And how very fortunate I am...

piece of ass

2011-01-23T20:15:00.000-08:00

I was walking down the road, as I do all the time, especially while in India. I walk and walk and walk and love looking at life as I go by. Yesterday, I was walking to visit a friend and suddenly, I was hit from behind.

3 young men were riding very very fast on their motorcycle (yes 3) and whack, one of them hit me in the ass and it hurt so bad. I just kept walking, what else was I going to do? Luckily, I was not hurt badly, just a sore butt and a bit shocked. A friend of mine just happened to be on a motorbike right behind them and he saw what happened and stopped and very kindly gave me a ride to where I was going.

I'm not writing this to make anyone look bad or to freak anyone out or turn them off to India. I'm writing it because, it is a good story. It's also a sad story. I feel so bad for these young men. Why would they want to do this? Why do they think this is ok? Unfortunately, these sorts of things are not uncommon in India. I told myself the first time I came, I was not going to let these sorts of things turn me off from this amazing place and I have not. I have dealt with it differently depending on the circumstances. In this case they were going too fast and I was too shocked to even react.

I'm still in love with India, just feeling a little sore today.. or should I say sour?

a little slice of magic.

2011-01-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

It's a magical place. India. Even after years and years and even after looking around and seeing strange things and thinking they are normal and even after all the difficulties it entails to get here and be here and even after all the emotional energy exuded and the abundance of creativity I feel while here. Still the magic persists, it pervades me. I LOVE IT HERE! Even during the illnesses and the frustrating moments and anything else that may come up.

Yesterday was spent relaxing and chatting with old and new friends at the river. A tranquil and gorgeous place. A beautiful countryside home full of art and artists. Although, as a rule, I typically don't swim in rivers in India, I did yesterday and it was fun to manipulate the current, climb out and sit on the warm rocks and sit in the swirling jacuzzi like pools. aaaahh...

The evening brought me to Kumar's shop. We sat, he, his wife, his son and I and talked about life and jewelry and gifts from America. We discussed the new pieces we will be making and we drew pictures and estimated gold weight. We designed and talked. It's one of my very favorite things to do in this world.. Sit with Kumar and 'make' jewelry... Oh, I am blessed...

May you all have shanti (peace) in your hearts.. one of my favorite Kumar quotes.

Veg. or non-veg

2011-01-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

Looking for a room. ‘You know sanjay, the rickshaw driver? He is finding people rooms.’ While sitting at the cocounut stand, I called Sanjay, who just happened to be sitting in his rickshaw, kitty corner from the coconut stand.

I arrived in Mysore early early this morning after a very long journey. I’m now staying at an old hotel in the city, but decided my first day’s mission is to find a flat to rent. I’m exhausted at the moment. It’s 1:10 pm and I haven’t slept in days, and am a bit dehydrated, but am totally determined to find a flat in the next two days. You see, not only do I study goldsmithing here, I also study yoga. Mysore is a sort of yoga mecca and students from all over the world come here to study. January and February is the busy time and it can be difficult to find a place, but it’s always worked in the past, so I know it will work again.

Sanjay came over to the coconut stand and got to work, calling this person and that person. I hopped in his rickshaw and first looked at a dingy little room… um no thank you.. then he asked ‘Madam, what would you like?”

I said, ‘One bedroom in a small house with a small kitchen and internet if available.’

‘ Yes. Yes madam. Do you want veg or non-veg house?”

We then tried a couple more places, but none were going to work.

At that point I realized, I had just been asked my first ‘only in India’ question. A little smile appeared on my face and I no longer cared if I found a room today.

I wrote this post a few days ago and have since found a lovely little room with nice light..

on my way!

2011-01-18T06:04:00.000-08:00

I'm watching the sunrise outside the airport in Phoenix, the sky is an incredible mix of orange and purple.

It's time to switch gears. 4 days of having fun with my in-laws in Phoenix, biking, walking, skydiving (i didn't do it this time, but have in the past), golfing, eating and enjoying..

Now, I am on my way to India. It's my 9th time. After that many times, I know exactly what to expect...the unexpected...

This journey will bring new perspectives, it will open my eyes to so many things and I am hoping to transfer some of what I see into photos and some of what I experience into words, here on this blog. So, keep checking in.

Until then, wish me luck.. 3 long flights, one long taxi ride, fast forward 2 days and voila.. I will be there!

Oh mother India.. I can't wait to meet with you again!

in memory

2011-01-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

We wrote this song in honor and memory of our dear friend and teacher Catherine Tisseront. One week ago, she lost her long battle with cancer. The photo is from Christmas Eve 2008.

We love you Catherine!

2010 escapades.. what will 2011 bring?

2011-01-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

2011 what will it bring? Hmm, it's impossible to know. Here's a little re-cap of 2010!

2010 started off in India, celebrating New Year's Eve in the ancient and amazing city of Varanasi on the Ganges River. The photo is of us getting a ride down the sacred river.

2010 was also the year of the elis. The beautiful pendant/amulet to help reduce fear in our lives. I made several of them with my jewelry teachers in India and they continue to be the popular piece of jewelry for 2010. So, in honor of my upcoming trip to India, they are on sale until Jan. 10 in my etsy shop here

April and May took us to Turkey, where we traveled from south to north. And I met and learned from two incredible goldsmiths in the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul. From my experience with them, came the Byzantine Collection some of which is available in my online store here as well as atticus' online store here, KOBO in Seattle and soon (in the spring) on the Windstar Cruise from Athens to Istanbul!

The summer I journeyed back to my homeland.. Wisconsin.. for a beautiful and fun visit with my family and a trunk show at Ancient Healing in Sauk City!

Later that summer we flew to Spain and took the train to S. France where we spent the month helping to shoot a movie. A new endeavor for both of us, but super fun and exciting none-the-less.

October I flew to the Middle east to spend 3 weeks with my Dad in Israel and Palestine. Here we had many wonderful experiences, but it also became the place that inspired me for the new collection of jewelry I hope to make in India this year. In jerusalem, I found ancient coins.. soon to made into jewels...

Then, in November, we flew to Puerto Rico to shoot more of the movie.. A great place to be over Thanksgiving.

We ended the year in the beautiful Methow Valley, Washington, cross country skiing our hearts out with our friends. the photo is of our icy hair after a long and beautiful ski.

I think it's going to be hard to top 2010, but we will try!

dreaming of... India

2010-12-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

I know it's right before Christmas and I should really be trying to get you to buy my jewelry (so, if you would like some beautiful amazing handmade jewelry click here), but my mind is in India..

You see, I've been invited by my goldsmith teacher's family to perform at their annual village temple festival, in a remote area of S. India. Last year they invited me also and it was a whole mind and body opening experience for me. One of those things that really changed my life. So much fear pulsed through my body as I was getting ready to perform in front of 500 people. I sat on the stage hiding behind the curtain,w hich then went up and poof... the anxiety disappeared and I sang and played my heart out. You can read all about it here and here. It really was an amazing experience.

And, I am thinking about it now, because, like I said, they invited me back, but I am arriving in India on the day of the festival and I am feeling sad and trying to figure out if I can change my ticket to get there, even one day earlier so I can make it half way across India to the remote village and sing sing sing to Krishna and the people of Adikadilye!

Oh, I hope it works out!

social media day! check it out.

2010-12-08T09:44:00.000-08:00

Social media day. Social media, what is it? Well, in two words; Facebook, Twitter. It's a new way to connect to your friends, clients, community. It's funny how things change so quickly, just a couple of years ago, social media didn't exist and now, it is changing the way we think about a lot of things, our relationship with friends, our businesses, our activities etc.

So, today, I am working on all my social media outlets (of which I have several) and wanted to invite you to take a look.

Blog:
First of all you are here, reading. So, if you enjoy this blog, please take a look in the right side bar go down about half way and you will see an option to 'follow' Please check it out.

Over the years, this blog has morphed into a combination of writing about the ins and outs of being an artist, a way to know more about what is going on in my jewelry business and my travel blog. I hope you continue to read and please tell all your friends.

Facebook:
I love Facebook! It's one of those things the first time I found out about it, I spent hours finding friends, connecting with people I hadn't connected with in a while. Now, I have a special page just for Karazi Design. You are welcome to "like" the page by either clicking on the like button in the upper right corner of this blog or you can click here and see the page and press on the "like" button on the top.

Twitter:
Oh twitter. Twitter is an exciting fast paced way to be up to date on all the things you love. I follow, travelers, jewelry artists, things happening around Seattle and post all sorts of things I am interested in or think my followers might be interested in. If you haven't tried out Twitter and are intrigued, I recommend it. You can follow Karazi Design here just find the 'follow' button and click on it.

Etsy:
Etsy is my online jewelry store. It has been such a wonderful thing to be able to show my far away clients what is new and for sale at Karazi Design. Have you looked lately? Check it out here.

flickr:
an online photo sharing site. love it! Click here to check out photos, descriptions and prices of my gold jewelry for sale.

website:
with all the other outlets, it seems websites are archaic.. Well, not really. Karazi Design website is in the process of getting updated, but you are welcome to check it out now, here.

There you have a short and sweet intro or reminder of all the social media Karazi Design is involved in. I hope it helps a little or gets you interested!

Trunk show December 4 at KOBO. Plus, the fast pace of overwhelm

2010-12-03T07:33:00.001-08:00

Moving forward at the fast pace of overwhelm! It's all good though.

Tomorrow, the only jewelry trunk show of the season for Karazi Design.

Please join us:
Saturday December 4,
12p-5p
KOBO at Higo
602-608 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98104
206.381.3000
www.koboseattle.com

I will have my full collection of jewelry including gold and beaded work. Hope to see you there.

Also, tonight is our first scheduled music performance in Portland. I'm on guitar and vocals and my husband is on acoustic bass and vocals.. Please wish us luck.

movie making in Puerto Rico.. last thoughts

2010-12-01T10:14:00.000-08:00

Once again, I am in awe of movie making. The team work is fantastic. It is totally and completely not possible to make a movie unless people are working together. And somehow, we were lucky enough to work with one of best teams in Puerto Rico. After the first day of observing (well, working too), I asked some questions. The 3 camera people have been working together for 15 years, but have been in the industry longer. The producers/co-directors have been together for 10 years. The respect for each department was incredible, the costumes, makeup, lighting, sound. We got to work with the people who have worked with Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges and more. I, of course, asked about Johnny Depp, they said he is very nice.. (thank god)

We shot several scenes each day and night, running from this location to that location. Dressing up the actors, setting up the lights, preparing sound, making sure everything is in place. It is so exciting, fun, tiring and unbelievably creative. There were so many smiles. It was nice to see people working so hard, but absolutely loving what they do. We worked 14, 15 and one 18 hour day and still, everyone on the set was smiling. I LOVE IT!

The beach was 2 blocks from where we were staying, but we had to shoot the shower scene, and then the chasing scene and wait, the suspense scene and more. Anyway, the Puerto Ricans told us many times. 'it is too cold for the beach'. It was 80 degrees and sunny! But moments before we flew home, I walked the two blocks to the beach and laid there, in the sun, reading the New Yorker and enjoying the sound of the ocean.

Puerto Rico: movie; part 2, day 1

2010-11-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

San Juan, Puerto Rico
November 23, 2010
Film shoot
It’s my birthday!

Woke up this morning in a humid haze of jet lag and new digs… with words of snow storms and school closings in Seattle.

We arrived on the red eye, yesterday. And were immediately whisked away to lunch and then a 4 hour production meeting. A productive meeting, going through the script, the shot list, the casting, etc…

Today, we went to the locations, to see where we will be shooting the first day, an apartment, the market. And then on to fittings!

Pretty exciting way to spend my 35th brirthday.

gold rings on etsy

2010-11-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

It's been a week and a half since I returned to the US and my gears have definitely shifted... Although, I have more stories to tell about my journey to Israel and Palestine, they will have to wait for a while.

The last week was full of jewelry making, I finished a large order for a cruise company, and sold my jewels at a private jewelry party... (if you are ever interested in hosting one, please contact me, they are fun).

And now, I am posting, after a very long time, new gold rings on Etsy... Yay!!

20k gold simple hammered band rings for $160
20k gold rough cut diamond simple hammered band ring for $200

They are beautiful and available for sale here.

I have less than one week before we head to Puerto Rico to continue filming the movie we started shooting in France (check the blog archives from July and August 2010) over the summer.. I can't wait! and don't worry I will keep you updated on all the excitement.

The West Bank, Palestine.. Part 2: the olives

2010-11-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

Jenin,
West Bank, Palestine
October 31, 2010
Canaan Fair Trade

We walked out of the Israeli checkpoint and into Palestine, the waiting taxi drivers asked if we needed a ride. “No,” we said, “we are waiting for someone”.

“Who?” they ask, “Nasser Abufarha,” is our reply.

“Aaaa… Yes.” they say in unison.

I hadn’t seen Nasser in years, but knew him from living in Madison, as a restaurateur, a Phd student and a voice of Peace for the Middle East.

Years later, we meet again, at the Jalame checkpoint. And this time he takes us on a true adventure through his homeland, the Jenin region of the West Bank, in Palestine.

We drove along a road over 2000 years old, made by the Romans and walked by Jesus. The area is surrounded by olive trees just as old. The landscape is hilly, dry, and dotted with earthiness of olive trees.

Still working on Peace, this time through connecting the people to their land, their neighbors and the world. In the last 5 years , Nasser has built Canaan Fair Trade, a successful fair trade oil olive company, empowering, employing and giving hope to over 1700 Palestinian olive farmers.

His excitement permeated, as he showed us around his newly built (just finished this year) factory. A Beautiful building amongst the olive groves. He now has 40 employees and a top notch facility with the hopes of producing somewhere between 400,000 and 500,000 liters of olive oil for export this year, amongst other products, like sun dried tomatoes and almonds.

It’s harvest season in the region and everyone is busy in the groves, picking olives by hand. Whacking the branches with a stick, the fruit falls onto a large sheet down below. They gather the olives from the sheet and take them to the factory to sell.

There are so many obstacles the Palestinian farmers face, including illegal land confiscation, limited access to water (due to the occupation by Israel), illegal settlements being built on their land and thus Palestinians being denied access to their own land.

Canaan Fair Trade has created a market for selling oil and now the farmers have a place to sell their olives, they can support their families and feel independent from the struggles they endure being under occupation. Canaan Fair Trade has also given the opportunity for the farmers to feel connected to the rest of the world, knowing their oil is being eaten by people across 11 countries.

We left the factory, but not before we ate fresh out of the press, olive oil mmmmmmmm with fresh bread mmmmmm….

Nasser wanted to show us one of his favorite spots, high up on Liqa’a Mountain, where you can see Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nazareth, many small villages, and Israeli Settlements disrupting the flow in between. We took his four wheel drive truck up a dirt and stone mountain road, hopped out and looked at the countryside. Simply beautiful!

As we came down the other side, there were 3 women sitting in the shade taking a break from harvesting their olives, drinking tea. They invited us to join them. So, we did, drinking black tea steeped with wild sage and a bit of sugar. Quite refreshing.

We continued down the mountain and into Jenin for lunch in the market. And ended our day together at the farmers co-op, meeting farmers and some of the women who have their own thing going… making couscous, by hand, which soon will be in ALL the Williams and Sonoma stores.

For more on Canaan Fair Trade, click here, And there is a lot more going on, Eco-Tours, Palestinian home stays, olive harvest festival. Soon they are going to launch green track Palestine… converting falafel oil into fuel for the tractors being used by the farmers, and more… It’s so exciting!

From Jenin, we went to Zababdeh to visit Abuna Firas. Zababdeh is a small community of 4000. There is little hope here, no industry, nothing for the children to do, a very high unemployment rate. Abuna Firas is a Greek Melkite priest who is trying to help his community by creating jobs and empowering people.. A few years ago, he raised money and gave several sewing machines to women, who now are making clothing and are able to make a meager living as well as empower themselves by supporting their families. He has dreams of building a recreation center to give the children a place to play and gather, rather than roam in the streets. He just built a pre-school. He is doing good work amongst big struggles. Giving the people of his community hope!

click here to see a little more of what he is doing.

We ended our amazing day on the West Bank with a sense of peace, community and hope for the people who live here amongst great struggle.

Then it was back to the Jalame Checkpoint to go back into Israel.. That’s a story for another day.

A Jerusalem Story: smile on my face. coins in my hand.

2010-10-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

Jerusalem
October 25, 2010

We only had an hour and a half and I was not in the mood for shopping.

We entered the old city through Damascus Gate on a mission to find old coins. Old coins to make jewelry with, old coins I find on my adventures around the world. It was a hot day, we had just left Bethlehem, made it through the Israeli checkpoint and like I said, I was not in the mood for shopping.

We made our way to one of the Stations of the Cross, part of Via Delarosa, otherwise known as antiquities row. There were many Christian Pilgrims walking through the small ancient street following the path of Jesus carrying the cross. I, was looking for a coin dealer. We wove our way through people and came across a shop with coins. I looked a bit and still just didn’t feel like shopping. Continuing along the street, we looked some more. It just didn’t feel right. So, we found a small Arabic café, we sat and ate hummus and falafel, read our books and suddenly large group of Christian pilgrims from Alabama joined us. I stared outside into the ancient surroundings and thought to myself, I have a 1000 blessings in my life, (as my 92 year old grandmother says)

Why at this moment, am I numb to this sacred surrounding? We were completely surrounded by people who had traveled half way around the world to come to the spot, the spot Jesus carried the cross from one part of Jerusalem to where he was going to be crucified, and all I could think about were coins and whether or not I felt like buying them.

Immediately becoming aware of this attitude, I shifted it and engaged, talking to my neighbors, listening to the stories of their pilgrimage and hearing the excitement in their voices. It was magical, quite magical!

We slowly finished and I told my dad, let’s go back to the shop, I think I’m ready to buy some coins….

And I did. 2000 year old Roman coins found beneath the ancient and spiritual city of Jerusalem, along with 1800 year old Greek coins and Byzantine coins all of which I plan on setting in gold to make earrings and pendants and rings…. And I bought an old Bedouin headdress, that I may or may not take the coins off to make into jewelry.

Dad looked at his watch and we had to go. We were meeting his childhood friend, he hadn’t seen her since 1981. So, like we entered, we left, weaving through the crowds of pilgrims. This time with a smile on my face, coins in my hand and happiness for all those who were on their sacred journey.

Thanks to my sister for the first two photos..

The check point

2010-10-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

West Bank, Palestine
The Check Point
October 25, 2010

Bethlehem to Jerusalem: 6 miles. It took us 1.5 hours.

We left the West Bank and it’s not a very fun experience. We had to take a taxi (along the segregation wall) to a check point, walk through a 50 to 60 yard uphill ramp, as if being herded like cattle, with a metal railing dividing the ‘arriving’ and the ‘departing’. And finally we arrived to the actual check point. A 19-20 year old Israeli military woman sitting alone in a metal shack, checked our American passports. Suddenly, for some reason, we were ‘in question’, so we had to wait…and wait…people were lining up behind us, also waiting, for us. She asked us questions, more people lined up behind us…She spoke to someone on a walky-talky. We all waited.

There are some people from Bethlehem who have passes and can go to the other side of the segregation wall. There are others who don’t and can’t have passes. Just normal everyday people, like you and me. They can’t leave! They can’t leave! Can you imagine? I just can’t get over how oppressive that is. They can’t leave their own village to the other side of the wall. A wall that was put up just a few years back, a wall of segregation, a wall that has separated families who can’t go back and forth to see each other. A wall built on cultivated Palestinian land, now rendered useless.

So, we waited and finally, after standing there, the girl gave us our passports. We had to walk across the street and again, walk through a ramp, this time a winding ramp. The 2 young military men were laughing, and joking over a loud speaker, as we gave them our passports. They started to sing the (American) national anthem. They were calling to and provoking the old Arab man in front of us. Over the loudspeaker, and echoing through the hall… So incredibly rude and although not the most humiliating thing they do, still, quite humiliating!

Again, we walked through a long winding hallway, not knowing where to go, it was quite confusing until we asked one man from Bethlehem. He pointed us in the ‘right’ direction, towards the x-ray machine, which we put our things through. We walked some more and again had to give our passports to 2 young military men. Again, they questioned us. So, many questions. Finally, they stopped asking questions, but just sat there with our passports and chatted with each other, not giving our passports back, to provoke us. After 5 to 10 minutes, they gave us our passports. We left the check point and got on a bus to Jerusalem. We arrived 1.5 hours after we left. It is 6 miles away!

Compared to many, our experience was quite easy. I can’t imagine the continued humiliation and oppression the residents of Bethlehem have to endure on a daily basis.

West Bank, Palestine; my amazing experience

2010-10-25T00:55:00.001-07:00

Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine
October 24, 2010
It’s 3am. I can’t sleep.

Did you know Bethlehem is surrounded (on 3 sides) by a 27 foot tall segregation wall? Not a wall of choice, a wall put up by the Israeli’s. A wall imprisoning the Palestinians from the rest of the world. Trapped in the city of peace where Jesus was born. Trapped without hope. Trapped with fear.

Can you imagine trying to leave your own city, only to be rejected because the people surrounding your city, decided that day, they didn’t want to let you leave, just because they can? This happens on a moment to moment basis, even when people are just trying to visit their family on the other side of the wall. The wall the Israeli's decided to put up between your two homes, on your land. Seriously, take a minute to imagine this….

Did you know that Bethlehem has a 38% unemployment rate? No, it’s not because the people here are lazy. It’s due to their complete oppression and ‘imprisonment’.

In the United States, we hear, mostly negative news about Palestinians.

I would like to tell you something positive, from the bathroom floor of my hotel room. It’s 3am, I can’t sleep and I didn't want to wake my dad in the other room

First of all, many of you don’t know this, but I am Palestinian-American, my father moved to the US many years ago. I was born and raised in Middle America, but my heritage is important to me. And I have always felt connected to Palestine.

Last June, I was visiting my family in Wisconsin. During that visit, I attended a talk by a man name Rev. Mitri Raheb from Bethlehem, Palestine. He spoke of the school, he has envisioned and built with the help of others. A school of hope amongst rubble and oppression. A school focusing on culture and the arts.

I thought to myself, no one is doing this. No one is focusing on the arts in the time of conflict. I love it!

When people are struggling just to survive, the arts can get pushed aside, but those of us, who are artists, need to express ourselves through art.

Arabic culture has a long and strong and important history of arts, music, visual art, poetry etc. Since 1948 when the Zionists took over this beautiful land and Palestinians were forced out of their homes, separated from their families, Palestinian art has diminished. This ongoing diaspora of the Palestinians has left the people without many necessities and thus the artistic culture of the people has dwindled.

When Mitri spoke to us in Madison, I met him and he invited me to give a talk to the students at his school in the West Bank, Palestine. I liked the idea, thought about it and put that thought in the back of my head.

Then, about a month ago, I decided to join my father on his journey to visit family (who live within Israel, and are known as Israeli Arabs politically, but are Palestinians culturally).

I told him, I wanted to visit places of peace within a land of struggle. So, he contacted Mitri and told him we were coming and, again, he asked me to speak to the students here.

Diyar is a consortium of many things, one of which is their school focusing on the arts. Teaching tradition, yet giving them the freedom of their creative minds to expand on the ideas.

They have a ceramics program, a jewelry program, glass, mosaic, music, documentary film making, performing arts, fine arts, graphic design, communications, Tourism management and more. It is a two year community college and like I said earlier, no one is doing this. It is an amazing place, with great teachers and wonderful students. I am completely impressed. They are empowering young people (especially young girls) with the freedom of mind, the creative mind. Guiding them with the power of artistic thought..

We arrived a couple of days ago, the school is in a beautiful old building, which was and still is a part of the Lutheran church, but the space has been transformed into an artistic oasis. Old arched ceilings, old stone walls, intermingled with modern architecture, glass and outdoor areas, which were filled with students playing music, studying and talking. This place also has a café and a bar, it has a gift shop, a guesthouse, an amazing gallery in a cave…It is quite remarkable and creates a beautiful aesthetic environment for artists. It’s even more remarkable because of the occupation they live under.

Yesterday, I gave a presentation of my work and my approach to it, about 30 students and teachers were there. It was a lively 2 hours, the students asked a plethora of really good and hard questions, they were critically thinking about what they had seen in the slide show. It was an amazing experience for me. I hope the students were inspired too.

You have to remember, most of these college age students have never had the opportunity to take an art class before. This approach is unlike any other they have ever experienced and they are supported and encouraged by their teachers to continue on. They are continually exposed to the outside world, by bringing the outside in. They are literally surrounded by a wall and illegal settlements and it is very very difficult and sometimes not possible to leave. Remember, the unemployment rate in the area is 38%, well the students who graduate from here more than halved that. And to me, that is impressive and a great success. The arts can keep them alive, channeling their fear and anger into something productive and creative!

I am inspired to come back again one day. It is truly a place of peace and creative energy, amongst mass oppression.

For more on the school please look here. www.diyar.ps

Thank you New Orleans!

2010-10-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

NOLA was/is just one of those places that I felt immediately comfortable. Things just worked out, and not just that, there were amazing coincidences.

I think I told you I ran into a childhood friend on the plane down to New Orleans… Well, it turns out her sis was getting married in New Orleans. They told me to come. Steven had flown home that day, and I had no plans. So, I crashed the wedding. It was so much fun to dance and talk to and see a whole bunch of people from the little Wisconsin town I grew up in… So. Much. Fun.

I also attended a yoga workshop while in NOLA. I know. It’s not what you do when you go to New Orleans, but it is what I did and I enjoyed it. I met an amazing woman who then, drove me back to my hotel, all the way on the other side of the city and then the next day, Sunday, the day I was flying, she drove me back to her house after the workshop. We sat in her garden and talked ate and I met her family and then she took me to the airport. I’m not actually doing this story justice, because it was a very special experience, but I just want to tell you how much I love New Orleans and it’s people. So open, kind and generous.

I got to the airport a bit early with the idea, I would make some phone calls before I left the country. But instead everyone at the gate wanted to talk. I love it! Seriously. The guy to the right of me, saw my guitar and wanted me to play, but..um… no…. Then, his whole family was talking to me to about music and books and travel. The woman to my left just wanted to tell me all about her mother and what an amazing musician she is and she was on Letterman and her dad died 10 days after her 40th birthday and then suddenly we had to switch gates, get on the plane and fly far far away.

New Orleans is definitely one of those places, I will return to again and again and can’t believe it was my first time.

I love New Orleans

2010-10-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

I love New Orleans...

We got in the taxi and the driver said, "Welcome to New Orleans. Is it your first time?" Steven answered, "No I've been here many times." The driver, "Well thank you for coming back. Thank you very much, we are having hard times here...." And he went on and on the whole drive, not just about how they are having hard times. He just wanted to talk and he told us everything about every place we drove by... On our way to breakfast... I loved him.

It's a breath of fresh air from the stiffness of those of us in the north. First of all it is sunny and 80! And every single person, I have encountered in the last 12 hours I've been here, has been kind and open and genuinely helpful. The pace is slower, the people are super friendly, the air is thicker and the architecture, is... well... gorgeous.

I walked and walked and walked til I got to Satsuma Cafe in the Bywater an awesome little cafe I heard about from Michael Stipe (well, sort of... via Gwenyth Paltrow, via my friend, who subscribes to Gwenyth's email newsletter called GOOP.. You should check it out, the newsletter and the cafe if you are in New Orleans). The cafe is awesome and I had a lovely and wonderful beet and fig salad, and took lots of photos on my walk.

The weather is perfect! And I am feeling inspired.... Thanks NOLA

travel saga, part 2

2010-10-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

BRUCE P won the pissing match..

I flew to Minneapolis, landed, looked at the clock and RAN off the plane, we were late, and my flight to NOLA left in 30 minutes. I ran for 15 minutes solid, making it to the last gate on the opposite side of the airport, just in time to sit down in first class (I had gotten an upgrade... not because of BRUCE P. ,just because.. yay for upgrades). I sat down in my seat, got a glass of wine and as a great surprise a childhood friend walked on, just after me (she must have been stressed too).

My mind shifted into a better space. The flight went quickly, I talked to my friend for a bit and may meet up with her later on this trip.

As we were landing in NOLA, I got a phone call, oops, I forgot to turn my phone off. Steven called me, he was in Memphis and would be in NOLA an hour after me. So, I got off the plane, got my luggage including my in tact (thank god) guitar and waited for him.

He arrived... without his computer... but they did look at the video and saw that he did put it through security... I feel so bad for him.. We took a taxi and went out in the French Quarter.

On a side note.. We got out of the taxi at our hotel and the first thing the man said to me was, "do you speak english?" hhhhmmmm that is a first, in the US.

We had a great evening and even ran into my friend again on Bourbon St.

Bruce P., the asshole, & todays travel saga

2010-10-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm…So, it’s the day of departure. Steven and I are on our way to NOLA, but on different flights.

We took the bus, to the train. Steven’s flight left an hour before mine and on the train, he realized his flight actually left 20 minutes before he thought. So, he had to RUN off the train and try to get to his flight, he got on the plane and realized he forgot his computer at security. So, he had to make a quick decision and got off the plane, which unfortunately meant he missed his flight. In the meantime, I had just gone through security and was walking to my gate and realized, I had forgotten my guitar at security…. Shall I say, I think both of our minds were in different places… This is not our normal way of being.

Just as I got my guitar back and was walking back to my gate, again. I get a phone call from Steven, telling me his saga and that he was on his way back to security. So, I turned around, again and went back to security to see if I could get his computer. I couldn’t. We met up after running all over the fricking airport and then realized I had to go to my flight and we were going to see if he could on my flight, without his computer, they just couldn’t find it… OMG… We took the train to the s terminal and talked to the nice woman at the delta desk., but it was 29 minutes before the flight. So, they closed the gate and could not get Steven on the flight… He had to figure out if he could a) get his computer back and b) get to NOLA tonight…He is going for a work meeting!

This is where the asshole, BRUCE P. comes in. I got in line to board and they took my guitar. I have a very very small travel guitar. I have traveled to and all around India with it. I have traveled to Turkey, France, Spain and other places. I have never had to check it. NEVER! It is in a soft case. It is fragile and it is much smaller than the 3 bags some people were bringing on the plane. This dickhead, BRUCE P., would absolutely not let me take my guitar on the plane. Then he wouldn’t even gate check it and then he wouldn’t even let me get it in Minneapolis. He made me check it all the way to NOLA. My small, fragile, travel guitar, in a soft case… So, I got on the jetway to board and was totally BITCHING to the other passengers, the ones with the 3 carry on bags they were not supposed to have. So, this very very nice man, Mr. Smith, an employee of Delta got off the jetway with me to go talk to BRUCE P. and Mr. Smith said he would check his bag for me so I could get my guitar. BRUCE P. kept saying…” I’ve made up my mind, she can not take it on the plane. We can not reverse this decision. I will not go back and forth on this. And will not reverse my decision. It is our policy” (our policy my ass, I’ve traveld on Delta in the past and have not had even an issue) I told him, ‘this is fucking ridiculous.’ He told me to watch my language. Ha, whatever dude… He also told me they are very careful in baggage services and if something happens to my guitar I can make a claim. Great! Just great… if you let me take it on the plane nothing will happen and I won’t have to go through claims process. I seriously don’t understand how this guy has such a power trip. He could have switched my guitar for any one of those too big carry ons that people were carrying on. The carry ons that were not fragile, like my guitar.. He totally didn’t care. WTF???

So, Mr. Smith stayed and talked with him for a while but, he would not budge. Mr. Smith got on the plane after me and gave me Bruce’s name (Bruce would not actually say his last name) and said I should write a letter to the airlines. So, I am going to and I would like you to too…

Gate s4
flight 2214
from Seattle to Minneapolis
October 14, 2010.
Bruce P is a supervisor in Seattle. And he is a total jerk and was not friendly or accommodating at all!!! It's not so much about my guitar as it is about how RUDE he was to me and to Mr. Smith.

click here for a link to write a complaint

So, now, I am on the flight (in flight wi-fi), Steven got a ticket for the next flight to NOLA and will be there an hour after me. Hopefully…. All will work out.

I will keep you updated!

Time Management!

2010-10-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

'Let's talk about time management' a phrase my husband has been known to say to me more than once. He is the king of time management (T.M.). Me, on the other hand, well, I am an artist, and I am an organized artist, so I get it all done, but sometimes, it's not in an efficient way. Or shall I say, not in the same efficient way my husband does things.

This week, though, I wish I had his T.M. skills. The next week of my life has to be efficient, organized and time managed and I think I can do it. I mean, I know I can do it!

The last two months have been quite amazing here. My mind seems to have shifted into a new space. A space with a different perspective, a focused, motivated and excited perspective, which is kind of fun, actually... It's also been quite busy. Last week, I got a big big order with a very cool little cruise company here in Seattle. It has been rocking (in a good way) my world the last week getting prepared for the order. Yesterday, I sat for hours making earrings, ordering the needed goods from all over the world and enjoying getting into the groove of production jewelry making. While that is going on, I am also getting ready for a big journey east, in one week!!

EEK! One week!! So much to do....

I fly to New Orleans (for the first time) and from there will fly to Israel/Palestine and will travel around the country(ies), I can't wait!

So, here's to time management and getting it all organized before I leave, so I can get it all done when I get back!!

Transformation

2010-09-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

This year has been a lot about transformation. Leaving behind old thought patterns, or habits and trying to move forward and follow my 2010 motto 'don't worry until you have to worry'. So far, so good. I feel like, yes, transformation has taken place and I have moved forward and done things I had never thought I would do... Like, for instance, work on a movie in France, or start to write a book. Things have shifted for the better, I am quite motivated each day to get up and do (whatever that may be). I am a dreamer, I do believe anything is possible, and I mean it. No, I didn't say everything is easy, I said, anything is possible and sometimes those dreams that seem so far fetched aren't really impossible, they are just difficult. The obstacles are sometimes larger than the dream, so why do it or why try?? hhhmmm... I often wonder, why am I making jewelry and trying to make a living doing it... Believe me, it is not the easy route. But the answer is because I love it! And why not spend my days (sometimes with many obstacles) doing something I love, rather than spending my days doing something I dislike?

I had a brief moment earlier this year, where I thought, 'I don't think I can do this anymore (this being, make jewelry). I just want to shift my challenge to something else, this challenge is old I always seem to struggle with the same things'. That thought pattern opened up some doors to me. Thinking in my head, I wasn't going to do this anymore. I had space to explore and act upon other things and ideas that had been brewing for a long long time. That space, created the transformation, I had been seeking and BOOM!! My jewelry inspiration started to soar, once again.. Thank god! Because as an artist these things ebb and flow like you wouldn't believe.

Now several months later, and with transformation achieved, I am flying high with my jewelry and soon off to visit my 92 year old grandmother in the Middle East and am writing a book and will fly to an undisclosed tropical location to film more of the movie and will go to India in January... Life is full of possibilities. You just have to have a little passion and be open to them too...

Old Turkish coin Necklace: Featured piece Sept 23-30... 40% off

2010-09-23T08:22:00.001-07:00

Last week was busy here. I delivered a big order of the Byzantine Collection to KOBO in Seattle. We SOLD OUT of Ganesha Pendants, which was 'the featured piece of the week' last week. If you are still interested in a Ganesha Pendant, please contact me and I can make one for you when I go to India this coming winter...

This week, September 23-30, we are featuring this beautiful OLD TURKISH COIN NECKLACE... It is elegant, versatile and a great price.

THIS WEEK: $72
regular price: $120

buy it HERE

This exquisite necklace is part of a limited edition series I call the Egypt Collection. It is inspired by my journey to Cairo in May of 2009. I bought many rare and unique beads, coins, and stones while there.

This necklace is made from brass chips and handmade silver beads. The pendant is an 80-100 year old impression of an old Turkish coin. It is made of silver and was worn by the Bedouin women of the middle east as part of their headress.

~17 inches long with sterling silver chain and handmade toggle clasp

Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. FEATURED NECKLACE SEPT. 16-22

2010-09-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

In Honor of Ganesha's birthday and the huge 10 day celebration in India (which I wrote about here), called Ganesh Chaturthi, we are featuring at 40% off, our 20k gold Ganesha pendant.

this week: $171
regular: $285 (SOLD OUT)

buy it here

Ganesha. Remover of obstacles

19mm X 19mm, 20k gold pendant, oxidized silver adjustable chain 16"-18"

Ganesha the elephant God is the son of Shiva and he removes those nasty obstacles from our lives and makes sure we succeed in our efforts. He is very revered throughout India!

Wear Ganesha to help you plow on through and keep going. He will guide you as you are challenged with all the twists and turns in your life.

Everyone loves Ganesha!

Elis.. jewelry for fearlessness 40% off this week only sept. 9-15

2010-09-09T09:32:00.001-07:00

HI Everyone,

This week, September 9-15, the featured necklace is the Elis. Remember the very special Elis' I made with my teachers in India?

This week: $120
Regular: $200

buy it here

They are for protection and to help you remove fears in your life.

They are filled with symbols to help do this.

tikka powder: represents the goddess (within you)
puja ash: represents the god (within you)
fishing net: to help catch evil spirits
elephant tail hair: represents Ganesha, the remover of obstacles
tumeric: for health and also represents the goddess

The elis' are handmade in the ancient Indian way, over a fire. Each Elis has been blessed in a ceremony and is made of silver and 20k gold. The purchase of this elis will help support a hard working artist in S. India.

Featured jewelry 40% OFF September 1-8

2010-09-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

So, it's been two weeks. We are back in Seattle and back to our 'regular' schedule, whatever that is...

Throughout the month of September, I decided to do something fun and exciting for all you readers. I will be featuring one piece of jewelry and it will be 40% off it's regular price. You can purchase it online here or just contact me and we can work it out.

This week September 1-8. I am featuring the ever popular lava and citrine necklace for $81, regularly $135. oh la la!!

Stay tuned for more surprises and exciting things..

A little bit of French movie making loveliness

2010-08-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

One day, she ran off of the movie set to go into town to get a few things, like croissants, cookies and of course, facial spray...

There are several things I love about France, one of which is their value in esthetics, like flower arrangements, beautiful gardens, lovely furniture, dressing well, fine wine, and (hydrated skin?). I like pretty things and appreciate them, I like good food and appreciate it. It creates a sense of comfort and pleasure, which I think we all crave.

So, she came back from the store with our goodies and an aerosol spray can of water... for your face... it was Evian... It cost 5 Euro... At first I laughed. Of course, I think this is ridiculous, and a funny waste of water, but my French friends, hmphed and said, 'no no... it is very nice for your face'. None of them were surprised by this bottle, like it is an everyday thing, and as I took it around the set to spray on peoples faces they all closed their eyes and enjoyed the comfort of a cool light mist of water on their faces... And then, so did I..

Goodbye France

2010-08-13T11:01:00.001-07:00

We left the chateau with a very nice farewell. Lot’s of hugs and kisses. I was ready to leave. When I travel, I mostly have that feeling, when it is time to go, it is time to go. Yesterday was that day and I was ready. A friend from the chateau drove us to Toulouse, the scenic way and it was beautiful along the small winding road through SW France, a great way to say goodbye and move on from our intense 3 week movie making experience. Our friend dropped us off in Toulouse, near the bus station and for hours, we sat at a café and had a nice lunch and nice French wine and slowly unwound. We talked about how we felt and I cried a bit to let go from the intensity. And then we made our way to the bus station. We took a bus to Barcelona because it is a straight shot, no transfers and we learned our lesson on the way to France, transfers with as much luggage as we have, is not a good idea.

The bus ride was strange and beautiful. Strange because there were about 10 people on this huge bus, the driver was super anal about everything, like he wouldn’t let us take our carry-on on the bus, because it was too big, but there were only 10 people on the whole bus, and then after 6 hours on the bus, we stopped at a truck stop for 45 minutes, when we were only an hour outside of Barcelona and the bus driver wouldn’t let us get to our carry-on below the bus, even though our food was in it.…. A bit frustrating, but Steven convinced him. Then, he almost left without us.

The ride was gorgeous, we drove through the old part of the Pyrenees between France and Spain. It is harvesting time, August, so the fields were cycling through their life, the sunflowers had seen their peek, which we were lucky enough to just catch the tail end of when we arrived 3 weeks ago. The rolling hills were dotted with old chateaus and old red brick homes with blue shutters. I think it looks a lot like Wisconsin although, the old buildings and CHARMING towns with tiny streets really makes it a bit better…We drove through the rain and a fantastic lightning storm lit up the sky the whole way, I enjoyed thinking about our experience making the movie and thinking about what is next..

um.. macarons, not so much

2010-08-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

Ok so the last few days, we’ve been on location in the city and there just happens to be 3 patisseries (bakeries) around the corner. I’ve been sneaking away and trying the sweets and oh la la… I’m in love! Today, I tried the famous colorful macarons. And well, I’d have to disagree with Jamie Schler’s romantic and supremely positive article in Huffington Post.
But nonetheless it was fun to try the very French macarons. Colorful fluffy meringue, filled with sweetness. I looked in the case filled with éclairs and pain au lait and fruit tartes and there they were the easter egg colored macarons. I chose framboise (raspberry) and I think this was my mistake, it is filled with raspberry jam and it was so sweet I only took a bite before the sugar high set in. The texture was not to my liking (a light crunch and then sticky goo) and well, they just aren't my choice within the plethora of options. They may need another chance, I may have to try a chocolate one from a different patisserie and see what the result is, but for now, I will stay with the chocolate filled croissants and tarte tatin….

They sure are cute though.

Meltdown in Toulouse

2010-08-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

I don’t know what happened. We were on location in Toulouse this afternoon shooting a scene outside a ‘fancy’ hotel (and it was fancy). The neighborhood was very very French. Small streets people walking and talking and kissing and sitting at cafes, there were shops all around and a little park in the middle with a carousel and a fountain and people sitting on benches. Oh la la…

Anyway, everyone was talking and because I am the person with the black and white board with all the info about the scene on it, I have to know what part of what scene we are shooting. So, I have to be paying close attention at all times all day and it is taxing, especially when everyone is talking and suddenly we are doing a take and I have no idea where we are because no one informed me, and I didn’t get my nose up into what they were doing (which doesn’t work so well anyway)… So, I yelled, “ EXCUSE ME… WE ALL NEED TO BE COMMUNICATING WITH ONE ANOTHER.” Everyone just looked at me and said, ‘oh, oh we are here we are doing this’ etc… I did that take and for some reason started to cry and I just set the clapper (my apparatus) down and left the set, without telling anyone. I walked around the block and cried. I don’t know why… other than the fact that we’ve all been working intensely together for the last two weeks and I just needed a moment to cry. I came back and everyone was being very kind and sweet to me. And then, I still didn’t want to be there so, I handed my clapper to someone else, ran around the corner to a shop I had seen and bought a really pretty and expensive dress, in about 3 minutes flat… And if you know me, you know that is not my way of doing things. I am slow, at these kind of decisions. I came back to the set, retail therapy happy, and I continued my job.

We had a few more takes, and some scenery shots. So, Steven and I went into a fromage shop (cheese) and bought a bunch of French cheese… it’s mmmmm and stinky.

Coffee in a bowl and Crusaders in the House..

2010-08-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

A little bit of chaos this morning, and I don’t know what my job is yet, so I have sneaked away to write. It rained all night, and this morning a beautiful fog with rain is sweeping over the land. I have been enjoying the weather so much, it reminds me of Wisconsin summer although, not as humid, not as hot and no mosquitoes… Kind of perfect!

Each morning we sit out under the large trees and eat our breakfast (except today because of the rain). The breakfast is not so thrilling, but we do engage in a very French activity, which is drinking our morning coffee (tea for me) in a large bowl savoring it, talking and enjoying the magic of caffeine.

Today we are going to the coolest house ever. It is quite old probably around 500 years. Anyway, it is beautiful brick on the outside and old cobb and wood on the inside there are 4 levels and the man who lives has quite the artist eye. It’s one of those houses I would LOVE to live in. It is at the confluence of two rivers and it is said, that during the time of the Crusaders it was used as a lookout because you could see both rivers from the top floor…

Ok, I should go back to see what is happening with all our things and get on the road to shoot.

today, I became an actor

2010-07-31T13:18:00.001-07:00

For some reason, we got up early and did a major workout this morning. I don’t know where the energy came from, but it felt good to move my body in an intense way. After that, I became an actor… Well, sort of anyway. I had to act as a friend of the woman in the movie and hold her arm as she was walking into her aunt’s funeral. It was a beautiful and sunny day here and we shot the scene at the chateau. So, in some ways I felt I had a day of rest. The actors have it EASY… I mean seriously, today, I sat around all day and waited and pretended to be sad and I had big breaks in the middle of the day. I was thinking what a different perspective it is to be in front of the camera versus behind it. There is so much going on behind the scenes, running around taking care of this and that and figuring out all the missing pieces. And the actors sit there and wait to say their lines and pretend to be someone else. I like both. They both have their own challenges and I think it is good to be challenged and inspired by something that is so out of my comfort zone.

We got off at 7 tonight. So, we borrowed a car from the chateau and went into the nearby town for some food. It was a nice evening away.

Tomorrow, we are shooting the car scenes. I will be back on the clapper, I think!!

Oh how I love working on this project, even though it is thoroughly exhausting me.

The dinner scene!!

2010-07-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

The dinner scene… Oh man. The dinner scene, this is where we started with the movie. Since I didn’t know anything about filming movies, I agreed to do the continuity for this movie. Um… Let’s just say, a dinner scene is DIFFICULT! Yes, DIFFICULT, is a good word. 3 days later we still have the same food, and its not smelling so good. We are not shooting in order and the table has to be set a certain way for each take; one take with food being eaten and then with food, but not eaten and then with no food and then again with food being eaten etc.. And the bread basket has to be in the same spot with the same bread. The person in charge of set design, does not always remember continuity. So suddenly we will be shooting and the cheese plate disappeared. Of course she didn’t tell me she put the fricking cheese plate in the fridge because she is French and can’t stand that the cheese on the cheese plate is sweating and sitting on the table. And of course I didn’t notice because I am also the clapper and the script supervisor and of course we can’t do the scene over because we are already way behind… oh la la

It’s so funny… Seriously, and I just keep cracking my shit up, because what else can I do? I love it…

scene 2.... oh la la la la la la

2010-07-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

She screamed, “Who took this bag from the chateau? There is a lady on the phone, she is crying, she has been looking for this bag for two days. Tomorrow she is getting married and she has everything in that bag.” She picks up the bag swings it over her shoulder and yells, “ Who took this bag, there is a lady on the phone crying, it is hers. She must have it, she is getting married tomorrow and all her things are in it.” She runs out the door hops in the car and yells. “ I am taking it back to the chateau.”

We all look at each other and just start to laugh.

Scene 2 is being shot and no, that is not part of the movie, it’s just part of the chaos. We have taken over a beautiful old farm house out in the countryside of southern France, surrounded by complete beauty. The kind of beauty you imagine, with fields of sunflowers, golden hills and green trees. There are 16 of us, I think one of us has worked on a movie set before maybe two. It is, shall I say, a little bit crazy.

On day 2 of shooting the tension between us has risen, but we are all wearing many hats doing this, doing that. I am impressed by the patience existing in the group.
Since we don’t really know what we are doing there is a lot of chaos, but it is so much fun. A full on challenge and which is totally inspiring to me. I don’t know if I will be able to watch a movie in the same way again.

After a 14 hour day, we walked back to the chateau, a 30 minute walk, on the tiny winding roads. The full moon was glowing orange and we used her light to see our way. We looked up in the sky and saw the longest, slowest shooting star….

I’d have to say, I think it’s a good sign.

a French sort of melancholy

2010-07-26T03:27:00.001-07:00

Today, I walked around the land of the chateau, as I’ve done everyday since we arrived, but today I decided to look, to feel, to smell and oh how things change. Things changed when I shifted my focus to the external beauty surrounding me to just feel as I walked to see what I saw, and smell what I smelled.

Since I haven’t gotten a photo of the peacocks yet, I decided to try this morning. I walked right up to the first one and he immediately spread his beautiful feathers for me and turned around in several circles. I found it to be quite funny as I was thinking it wouldn’t happen so effortlessly…

My walk continued around the land near the beautiful buildings, the garden and down the trail to the wooded area smelling of Je ne sais quoi, but smelling lovely none-the-less… The sunflowers were not sunning themselves this morning, as the sun has not shone, and I finished the walk as I rounded back to the chateau.

I am feeling melancholy for the moment, but I know that will change soon. I am off to a meeting for the costumes and props for the movie we are shooting…First full dress rehearsal for scene 1 this afternoon..

sweet fat goodness

2010-07-25T03:21:00.001-07:00

Can we talk about the butter? I mean really, the sweet slightly salty creamy smoothness of the French butter. Actually, I hadn’t tried it until this morning with breakfast. OMG, it’s so good and I’m not really a butter person. We just don’t use butter at our house, but I think, I may be eating a little more than I should while I am here.

We are staying at a chateau and they have meal times so, we don’t choose what we eat. Which is kind of fun, but the food is atypical French. It’s all vegetarian hippy type food and if you know me, you know that makes me happy, but I’d love to sink my teeth into a lovely brioche or another pain au lait, which I had the other day and almost had an orgasm. Seriously, the French know how to do pastries and bread and butter for that matter. We may have to sneak away and indulge in some sweet fat goodness.

Sorry no photos of the food, but here is the chateau!

en francais s'il vous plait.

2010-07-23T04:47:00.000-07:00

We arrived at our final stop. Well our final stop, for a few weeks anyway. There was a bit of mis-communication and lack of technology to get in touch with the people to pick us up last night, but that’s ok. We found a little hotel near the train station in Toulouse and stayed up late talking.

In the morning, we took another train to a beautiful small town 40 minutes away from Toulouse. Someone was there to pick us up and drove another 10 minutes out into the countryside to the chateau where we are staying. Let me just say, ‘IT IS BEAUTIFUL!’

The rolling wheat fields are mixed with fields and fields of golden sunflowers. There are two peacocks here at the chateau. They are beautiful, the male enjoys displaying his tail feathers often. I can’t get over all the colors and have never hung out so closely with a peacock. Our room is up on the 3 floor looking out over the trees and into the distant fields. Oh the magic.

Barcelona on the livability factor??

2010-07-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

One of the things we love about traveling is seeing how people in other countries do things differently or how things function differently. We love to check out livability of a city. Of course that is our own opinion and certain things are important to us.

Barcelona, is pretty livable, to us. First of all it is on the Mediterranean, second, I love the open and kind Spanish culture. Then there are things like, public transportation, which we loved and used everyday. They have a fantastic underground. It pedestrian friendly, and many more things. Here are a few.

The courtyards, they are everywhere, you walk a little bit and suddenly you are in a big open space where people are sitting outdoors at cafe tables, socializing, children are running around, bicyclists riding through. This is so appealing to us and somehow we did not take a photo of one..

Now this may seem funny, and well, it is, but one of the things we noticed (and liked) in Barcelona were the garbage bins. They were so cool! First of all they were plentiful, neat, clean, non-stinky (in 90 + humid weather), they were double sided (which I love). You could add garbage from the street side from a big lid or from the sidewalk side, which had a foot peddle to open up the bin or a small (hand size) opening to put your rubbish in. Usually there were 3 bins, sometimes 5, like in the photo. 3 recycling bins, one for paper and plastic, one for glass, and one for compost and 2 for regular garbage. I just love this, it is practical, and it is environmentally friendly. And apparently it works, because there was not garbage anywhere! (We have since made it to France and this is not the case here.)

The other thing we loved, was the bicycle sharing system, although it had a major flaw. We couldn’t use them. You need to be a resident and have an annual subscription to the program. Other than that, the city wide bicycle program is very cool. You can use the bikes all over the city, they are parked in several different places, they are equipped with a front rack, and lights. Plus they are red, which I like!

Overall, we both thought, we needed more time to get a feel for the energy of the city, but it ranks quite high on our list of livable places.

Barcelona..

2010-07-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

We are leaving Barcelona today. It has definitely been an adventure. Here is a little bit about our day yesterday.

Hmmm…. It seems this trip to Barcelona has been about lessons, about how travel is amazing and amazingly frustrating, about how expectations are just that… Expectations.

We had ideas about today. They were great. We were going to rent a scooter, but it didn’t work out. We were going to go to the train station and buy tickets and it didn’t work out. All this not working out took all day of running around, with a few cafe/sangria stops along the way. We decided after several disappoints and not getting anywhere to go back to our flat to try to get the tickets online. Which after another hour or so, we think worked. So, then it was 8:30, we went on a walk through the beautiful Park Guell and we were going to have a fine meal up on the hill and guess what? You got it, it didn’t work out.

Sometimes that is how things are. Sometimes making plans just isn’t a good idea. This trip has been like this so far. From the beginning to the near end.

As tomorrow we are off to France. We hope!!

With all that said, we’ve seen a lot of beauty and experienced some wonderful things.

Lucky Girl!

2010-07-19T02:32:00.001-07:00

we made it to Barcelona and it's amazing. Although, I have to say we did not arrive without a few small inconveniences...

I should have known, when we got on the plane and my seat was in the middle of, the middle of the plane. You know, the seat where no one wants to sit. My husband very graciously switched with me. He's so sweet...

The plane took off and I decided to recline. Nope, it wouldn't recline. I asked a flight attendant about it and soon all the flight attendants were helping. No one could figure out how to make this stupid seat go back and since my husband already switched with me for my comfort, I wasn't about to make another peep. Our flight was over 9 hours.

So, needless to say, I did not sleep the whole flight, which isn't entirely the end of the world, but it kind of sucks. It also did not help that the family, with 3 kids behind us did not shut up the entire way. I guess they didn't sleep either, but at least, they did have reclining seats.

We got off the plane in Amsterdam and as we were going through security, I realized, I left my jacket on the plane. Ugh.. We had already gone through security so I could not go back and still make our next flight. We asked a friendly and helpful KLM woman, but no jacket to be found on our plane.. So.. I lost my jacket.. We went to our very crowded gate and waited. We ended up sitting on the air condition duct because there were no seats available and when we stood, my shirt got caught in the duct and it tore a huge hole in it. I thought, oh man, hopefully all this stuff only happens in 3's... because 3 things already happened...

We finally made it to beautiful Barcelona.. Yay!! We arrived at noon on time. Then we went to baggage claim and it took over an hour to get all our items off the belt, it was sooooooo slow... Steven's guitar was in the oversized things and it did not arrive so we had to wait in a very slow moving line at the lost baggage area. We waited and waited and waited. Finally, they told us his guitar arrived and they will send it up right away. So, we left our precious spot in line to go to the other side of the airport to pick up his guitar, which did not come. We walked back and waited in line again.. We ended up in this cycle 3 times before his guitar arrived, 4 hours after we had landed.

At this point we were both quite frustrated, we hadn't slept, we hadn't eaten and we had 7 pieces of luggage between the 2 of us including 2 guitars, camera equipment, our carry ons and one suitcase for our clothes. I suggested taking a taxi to our destination, but Steven did not want to do this, he wanted to take the train. I pretty much had a conniption fit, but followed him to the bus (carrying 5 things). He carrying 2 50lb bags. Then, we got off the bus and had to walk 20 minutes to the train, by the time we got there, I was about to kill someone. We got on the train with all our shit and realized we had to transfer. I said to him. There is no way, I am schlepping this stuff any further, we are taking a taxi. So, we took the train a little further. We got off and had to carry it another 10 minutes. We found a taxi, got in and ahhhh.... relaxation.

We made it to the place we are staying, which is so cool. We are renting a room in someones flat. We found it using this website. www.airbnb.com. It's a new trend in traveling and it is so cool. The NYT just did an article about this type of thing here.

Since we had taken forever to get there, the lady at the place we are staying had gone off, which I would have done too. We had our taxi driver call her. She came back in about 20 minutes. and voila... We made it!!

I was still about to kill someone, but at least we made it safely. And our flat over looks the whole city. It's beautiful and amazing! And I am such a lucky girl to be here..

one hour...

2010-07-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Frantically...cleaning the house, organizing, last minute packing. One hour til we leave.. I love it.

Spain... France... here we come!!

2010-07-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

I have decided to completely shut down all operations here at Karazi Design, while we are away filming a movie in S. France.

For the next month, I am going to try to travel blog as much as possible. Please, if you know anyone interested in travel and reading about it, pass my blog on to them.

We leave in 2 days and I am quite excited and totally not ready... First of all, what do I wear? I'm so used to traveling to India and the Middle East and I have my go to cover up baggy clothing, but Barcelona and S. France? So, I decided, I will wear dresses all sorts of dresses and maybe only pack dresses, because here in the NW, I never really get to wear all my beautiful sundresses, (the sun don't shine much on these parts). I guess I answered that question.

photo from the uah.edu website

Next, what to do in Barcelona? OMG, I am sooooooooooooo excited, a new city, on the Mediterranean, in the summer, in Europe. OMG! I know we will find plenty to do, but we only have 3 days and we like to wander and serendipitously run into magic. On the other hand, I don't want to miss any of the really really cool stuff that exists in the city.. Oh, balance, such is life... I suppose a little structure and a little spontaneity will do the trick.

Then, the train to Toulouse. I am quite thrilled about the train ride there... Through the countryside that inspired painters such as Van Gogh, and other artists. I have not been to France since 1994 and am quite excited about this journey. It will be thrilling in all sorts of ways.

photo from leelau.net

ooo hold on.. I just got an email from the people we are filming the movie with..I'll be right back!

I'm back. It is our detailed schedule for the first few days at the movie set.. Kind of funny since I was just writing about taking the train to Toulouse. Which is the largest city closest to where we are going to be. The rest is a bit unknown. I'm hoping to write more as I learn more.

Sale ends tomorrow.

2010-07-13T09:00:00.001-07:00

I sit here this morning organizing, going through mail, lengthening necklaces and thinking, tomorrow is the last day of my sale in my etsy shop..

Only one day left. Check out all the beauties 20% off all the jewelry including gold.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/karazidesign

sleepless nights...

2010-07-11T23:23:00.001-07:00

Sometimes it happens... More lately than usual. These sleepless nights. My mind scrolling through all the things, the things to do. I wonder why. Why this month has been so hard for me to fall asleep and sleep through the night? I feel like the answers are there, but I am not following them, taking their lead. They tease me with their relaxing ways and I grab, but can not reach and slowly slowly move in the direction of awakeness... aaaaaaaaaaaa

Do you ever feel this way?

Seafood fest on Sunday!!

2010-07-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Just a little reminder, Kathy and I will be selling our "Treasures from India" at 30-50% off this Sunday, July 11 from 10-4 in front of

Duque Salon
5348 Ballard Avenue Northwest
Seattle, WA 98107-4060

Plus I will have some of my jewelry at 20% off..... If you are in Seattle, come on down to Seafood Fest.. We hope to see you there.

And if you are not in Seattle, all the jewelry in my Etsy store is 20% off until July 14th!!

Check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/karazidesign

SALE SALE SALE SALE

2010-07-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

I'm in one of those moods.. It happens rarely, like I've only done this one other time... ALL ITEMS IN MY ONLINE ETSY SHOP ARE 20% OFF FROM NOW UNTIL JULY 14TH.. EVERYTHING! Including gold! Yes, gold is on sale! So, now is the time to take advantage of this rare and fleeting moment!

for the LOVE of art (thanks artists)+ Cirque du Soleil

2010-06-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

It really is a spectacular show! 2 hours of pure amazement. I am so in awe of the ability of the human body and the concentration, dedication and drive it would take to be able to do what they do!! Check out their website: Cirque du Soleil

Between ooo's and aahh's and oh no's. I kept thinking, this is live, this is real, we are here and people are doing this. The music is live the performance is live and how rare it is these days for us to have the opportunity or make the time to see live events. Especially events of human body wonders.. The circus...

It's a shame art is valued so little in our society. As an artist and as an artist who makes my living selling my art, I find, these days in the world of computers and short attention spans, I spend more time marketing my jewelry than actually designing and making it. Of course that is the never-ending battle of the professional artist, but as I sat last night and watched in wonder, I thanked all the artists hard work, and I thanked all the artists out there in the world who continue doing what they believe in despite all the obstacles and up hill battles of society not understanding why anyone would do that when they can 'make' money doing something else...

So to all you artists out there.. Thank you!! Thank you for making the world a more beautiful, interesting, unique and wonderous place... THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

journey to wine country + parents visit!

2010-06-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

My parents are visiting this week. So, we've been busy running around and having a nice time. We spent the weekend in the Yakima Valley, exploring some of Washington wine country. It's beautiful! The sky was blue and the air was warm. Mount Adams peeked through the golden hills and the valley was full of ripe fruit trees and there were acres and acres of grape vines. I love going to new places and feeling the energy. We took the scenic route home through the mountains and visited Mt. Rainier (but the clouds were dense and we could not see her).

Last night we made a wonderful meal of homemade pasta, with sundried tomato and olive tapenade, greens from our neighbors garden and a wonderful 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Wineglass cellars in Yakima. Tonight we will go and see Cirque du Soleil and I am so excited.

Only one more Lakshmi

2010-06-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

I have only one Lakshmi Pendant left. Click here to shop for her..

Lakshmi: Goddess of prosperity.

Lakshmi helps us achieve prosperity in our lives, not only material prosperity, also spiritual prosperity. She is our guide to internal and external wealth.

Wearing Lakshmi can help you reach your goals and keep your motivations in balance as you move forward in your life.

20k gold pendant, adjustable oxidized silver chain. $285

passion

2010-06-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit slow this week, disheveled and unorganized.. As I look at my life and see all the things going on, it makes sense I can't keep it all straight.

The Edmonds Art Festival was a lot of fun. I met several new people and saw many old friends, thanks so much for stopping by.

I hadn't done a 3 day show in a long long time, I think 4 years. And oh how I forgot how absolutely exhausting they are. Wow!! Standing, out in the elements 10-12 hours a day. I don't know, that you will be seeing me at a 3 day show anytime soon.

Right now I am shipping off a new order of jewels to Atticus in Madison, Wi. Check out their website. They have a great online store.

And I am getting ready to go to France and Spain for a month.. An exciting new adventure! I'll keep you updated as I find out more, but right now, what I do know is it involves shooting a movie in S. France.

I have been thinking a lot about passion lately.. Passion in the sense of excitement for something. As I observe my passions and have seen them shift over the years, I realize, passion is what makes me flow. It motivates me, it keeps me going and excited about life.

I think about the limited time in life, and how much I have wasted on worrying about the mundane. I think we all have opportunities and choices and I think if we open our hearts and minds and let those opportunities arise and make choices that lead us to the unknown, our lives can be full of passion and excitement... What are your passions?

magic of the sun + Edmonds art festival

2010-06-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

I have been welcomed back to Seattle with a little rain and a little sun followed by an amazing rainbow (at 9pm)... Wow!! The sky was lit from the magic of the sun, the sky was glowing in a surreal way and my heart jumped as I looked up to see the rainbow with it's massive stripes arching over my home... Oh the beauty of mother nature.. The picture does not do it justice, but I tried!.

For those of you in the Seattle area this weekend, come on out to the Edmonds Art Festival. I will be in the plaza area above the library look for P20

Friday June 18 11-9
Saturday June 19 10-8
Sunday June 20 10-6

And for those of you not in the Seattle area.. Check out Etsy, my online store.

HOME; a sense of place

2010-06-12T19:36:00.001-07:00

my morning walk... made me think of place... of experience... of how I feel when I am in a new place or a place away from my home or in this case the place that is my 'home'

I am visiting Wisconsin right now, the place I was born. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in, in the countryside, outside of a small community.

When I am back here, I am, somehow, amazed at the complete beauty of this place I do call 'home'. The lush green rolling hills, the bur oak trees standing tall and proud amongst the bean and corn fields. The humid air filled with the songs of the birds make my heart long for my home, as I was walking through it, in it, feeling nostalgic, as I do, in most places, but this place... my birth place, the place that is most familiar to me full of such life gives me a strong feeling of plac. of home. of love...

A sandhill crane flew up from the knee high corn and whooped its way, low in the sky to find a new landing spot on the other side of the sparsely traveled country road. A group of yellow finches landed on the tall grass growing in the ditch. The frogs croaked and the cows grazed. I walked and I felt the warm moist air on my skin and walked surrounded by the trees the green green beauty of the Wisconsin countryside. Oh how I love my home...

It is wonderful to be here..

journey east...

2010-06-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

getting ready for my journey east... to wisconsin.. it's where i'm from and i'm really excited about going back and seeing family and friends. i grew up in a small town outside of madison along the wisconsin river. it's a beautiful place and it is summer there. the kind of summer where you wake up and can put on a tank top early in the morning and still feel warm. where the sky is blue and the birds greet you with a cheerful hello. oh, i am excited!!

early summer trunk show
ancient healing
june 10
4-6
809 phillips blvd
sauk city, wi

congrats to our winners...

2010-06-07T11:48:00.001-07:00

Congrats. to the winners of the earrings... Thanks to those of you who signed up on our email list!!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

I'm busily making some jewels and getting ready for my trip to Wisconsin tomorrow night.

Those of you in the Sauk City area...

Early summer trunk show
Ancient Healing
June 10
4-6pm
809 Phillips Blvd

I will have lots of new jewelry and goodies..

xoxo...

diamonds + rubies + gold... oh my

2010-06-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

India.. Dreaming on the motherland today.. So I thought I would post some of the jewelry from my work/study trips there.

The first set of jewelry is all designed by me and made by myself, my longtime teacher Kumar and a few of his friends. We make all of these pieces completely by hand and by eye. The traditional Indian way. It is one of my dreams in life to help keep the dying art of Indian goldsmithing alive. The goldsmiths in India are in high demand, but they are looked at as skilled laborers and are paid a small wage for their work. I work and study with two independent goldsmiths, one in the palms groves of Kerala and one in Mysore, a city in the South of India. We work together to make these beautiful pieces and the with the purchase of one of these pieces, you help support these two very hard working, but very underpaid families in India...

Beautiful handmade star ruby ring set in 20k gold and hand engraved on the back size 8 $830 contact me if you are interested in purchasing this ring or would like more information on it.

simple hammered bands and simple hammered bands with rough cut diamonds sizes 5-8 prices $150-$200 contact me (info in the right side bar) if you are interested in purchasing or would like more information on these rings.

working with Balan in the coconut groves of Kerala, is my favorite part of the year each year. We sit on his veranda and painstakingly make gold chains from scratch using a fire with a blow pipe torch and rudimentary tools. Our beautiful handmade chains are for sale

In this photo you can see the handmade chain, each 1X1.5mm link is soldered using a blowpipe torch. in order to do this the goldsmith must know how to circular breath.

Each chain is $775. for more information and more photos please email me. ps.. the pendant is already sold...

karazi design featured in expat + HAREM

2010-06-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

I have just been informed that one of my blog posts (a day in the life of two Turkish goldsmith's) has been featured in the summer edition of expat + HAREM. Scroll down and Check it out!! Yay, I love Turkey..

Sign up for my e-newsletter *here* for a chance to win these beautiful handmade silver wire earrings. $40 value, one entry per person, US addresses only. #9 and #27 win. free earrings... you can give them as a gift or keep them for yourself...

sign up on our email list and receive free earrings!!

2010-06-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

Be the 9th, or the 27th (because I like those numbers) people to sign up on our email list *here* and receive these beautiful handmade silver earrings... only US addresses and one entry per person!