Highlights of the last few days

Kitchen window in the afternoon sun. 

Neighborhood

Freshly steamed artichokes. Yum!

Fabric shopping: total spent $18! Yeay for downtown LA. (All knits, average of two yards per fabric)

New beads for NIMO. (Green aventurine, white onyx and turquoise howlite) & my beloved old boots with absolute favorite stockings (H&M) 

This poor little monster was a present from a friend.
I gladly adopted him, but due to some leakage he has to protect our house from the outside. 

You just have to love living in the US: cup holders in shopping carts. How cool is that!?

What I've been up to

Hi there!
What a blogging mess I've been. I hereby officially apologize.
I've been pretty busy working on new designs and trying to decide which ones will be true one of a kind pieces and which ones are going to become part of the "regular" line.
Bare with me, please, as I try to name them, price them, and provide each little (or big) item with it's little history. Only then will I upload them to my (now very sad looking) etsy store.
I'm also psyched about a little holiday project I will be participating in. It's a "blog hop event" about committing to buying crafty presents this Christmas. Angela Flicker had the lovely idea of recruiting bloggers who will each be assigned one day, starting in November, to blog about buying hand-made presents and supplying a shopping list of their favorite items. Head over to her blog to see the list of participants and the scheduled posting.
On the side I'm also working on the design of my webpage, which beginning to take a shape I like. I can't wait to have it up and running (nothing worse than handing out business cards with a web that's under construction - yikes!)
Here are a few pictures of my last weeks.

Vintage Bohemian Glass (1900-1940) - used as barter in Africa

Repurposed vintage bone brooch

Legion Necklace (unisex) 

Sterling Silver Rococo Pendant

Squared Necklace (brass and copper)

The Key

My last "Open Desing Market" in Pasadena, a free event for alumni of the City College and Art Center of Design

Too bad this was the weather we had at the event

First weeks of Leisure back in LA

Rhubarb Lemonade 

Chillin' by the pool. What's up with the legs guys? 

Abandoned toy frog at the bottom of the pool

Welcome back to the US of A: delicious fries at The Counter

Rainy weather brings rainbows, a not so common sight in LA

Home made AllBran-Banana-Oat muffins

Invention on the go: italian whole wheat pasta with brussel sprouts and onions. Secret ingredient: white truffle oil!

A stroll around Pasadena Art Night with friends

I loved the fact that my birthday was such a big deal this year! I kept bumping into banners and posters.

I decided to celebrate at The Edison in downtown LA. A definite "must see" if you're in the area

On sunday I felt I needed a substitute for a birthday cake, so we got some frozen yogurt. This is Mikki's choice: Butterfinger and gummy worms! Although it was quite tasty I opted for the classic topped with fresh strawberries :)

Back to Work

After an extremely long summer hiatus I am finally back in my Pasadena workshop (aka garage). I've actually worked on new jewelry pieces for the past three days and let me tell you - it sure does feel good.
The good thing about taking a break from what you do is that it gives you perspective. You can take a few steps back to get a fresh glimpse. Not only at your own creations but also on what's happening around you. If this summer break from being actively creative has provided me with something, that has been time to think about where and how I want to take this NIMO. adventure of mine. So I've decided to truly focus on one of a kind pieces, not only because it's more fun for me, but also because I feel that this is what can set me a bit more a part from big jewelry companies or the real cheap stuff you can buy at your fashion franchise of choice (Zara, H&M, Anthropologie, UrbanOutfitters, etc).
Anyways, here are the first pieces of the Fall/Winter 2010 Collection. I'm still looking for a name, maybe you have some ideas?

Thai Necklace

Art Deco Earrings

Flapper Necklace

Ampersand Necklace

Hope you're having a great Fall start - I personally can't wait for the fall weather to kick in. But I guess that's what you get for living in sunny California :)