Think Pink

The last weekend of my trip to Hawaii I spent on Oahu, for a 2-day private class with an old friend, Ama Nishi.

When I walked into Ama's studio I just about had a fit of some kind - nothing bad, mind you, but a happy fit of some kind. Ama didn't mind me taking pictures and showing them to you on my blog. I'm sure that each one of you will have a different reaction, anything ranging from "oh, how CUUUUTE" to "wow, that's nuts". But even if you walk more on the "that's-nuts" kind of life, you might want to look beyond the color and see all kinds of ways to organize, store and decorate your own studio.

So, let's take a trip into the pink universe of Ama Nishi:



Some of you might love the idea of having windows with a view in front of you - my personal opinion (based on experience) is: DON'T. Any kind of bright light coming from straight ahead is going to make it more difficult to see your flame. If you can't set your torch up any other way, make sure to get blinds.
As for the TV above, I am jealous - it even swivels depending on where in the studio you sit. But again, miss nagnag would say that it's mounted too high, and if you have to look up that much to watch TV, you might seriously hurt your neck. I am a huge fan of watching TV while making beads, and if the wall/window in front of you is too short for placing a TV without endangering the screen through flying pieces of glass - cover the screen with a pane of glass.



Wow, I am still impressed at the attention to detail in the studio decoration; the bundles of fake cherry blossoms could be very inspirational, I am already itching to light the torch just looking at those. As for the curtains, you better be VERY sure that they are attached properly, floating pieces of fabric are not a good idea anywhere near a flame. In my studio, I actually did the opposite, I removed ALL the different curtains that were on the windows new my workbench. It looks bare and slightly ugly, but it makes me feel much safer. Your choice!



Okay, I admit, I don't quite know what to say about these guys - but Ama made them herself with Polymer Clay. What I like about is the fact that someone can handle multiple hobbies/passions. It's so easy to get carried away with making beads, sometimes I think we all should step back and revisit those things we liked to make BEFORE we got bitten by the beadbug.



The color pink is not only residing in the purely decorational items, but it also infested the lampwork related things, like the lids of a variety of frit jars. Can you tell that Ama is an "ingredient horder"? You should see her collection of PRESSES (which I won't show, for, well, personal reasons...)



Okay, this is hands down the funniest studio outfit I have EVER seen. Do YOU know anyone who took the time to sew a (fuzzy) oxygen tank cover? I'm still speechless. The pink gorilla is just icing on the cake.



The fake pink rose is far away from the flame, and again, very inspirational. Ama bought a tutorial on how to make a rose murrini - but it came without any kind of instructions on how to USE the murrini. Looking at a "real" rose might help her figure it out. In general, it's always better to look at the REAL thing rather than a rendition in/on a bead.



Handknitted wrist warmers in Hawaii? ??????????? At least they are pink...I forgot to check the feet for matching socks.





I admit that I was pretty scared sitting on this chair! So far, I have managed to burn almost any chair I have ever sat on. But Ama just shrugged off my concernes, "don't worry, I can always upholster it again..." I am starting to worry, a beadmaker who knits wrist warmers, sculpts fairy dolls and upholsters chairs. I am getting an inferiority complex.

Oh, but the next one hits the jackpot, handsdown!



She even took the instrucions label off before spray-painting it. I not only don't have a PINK fire extinguisher, I don't have a fire extinguisher period. Maybe I'll go shopping tomorrow. Wonder where they sell them?

Some more miscellaneous items, without  comment. I think I ran out of things to say.

















Oh, did I say the fire extinguisher was the top? I have two more that aren't bad either:



Okay, THIS one is definitely to top of "Things Pink" in Ama's household (I was assured that no animals were harmed and the retro-fitting of this Maltese...)



I hope you got some sort of inspiration/amusement out of this little trip into Pink-country - If Paris Hilton shold ever decide to take up beadmaking, she should take her first lesson in Ama's studio. Aloha and Mahalo!

New test from a frustrated Blogger

Another test with an external editor Todd found for me - where is the picture going to end up? If it's below this sentence, I am ecstatic and will be Dancing with the Dogs for the next hour...

almost out of Aloha-land

I haven't forgotten about my new passion of blogging, just got a little too busy for a few days. I left Maui to fly to Oahu (Honolulu, for those overseas people who think Hawaii is all that - just Hawaii, that's what I used to think at least), for a 2-day private class with an old friend of mine, Ama Nishi. Tomorrow, or as soon as I have a little time and an internet connection, I'll post some pictures of Ama's studio - I have NEVER seen such devotion to a color. It only takes one word to describe her studio: PINK. You won't believe it!!!!
Tomorrow morning I'll fly back to Maui, then home to Seattle, where grey skies and drizzling rain are awaiting me. Hmmmmm, I have lots of clothes, shoes, lampworking tools, I could just stay here...but then again, the dogs are waiting, Sheri will have cleaned the house, Todd is a few thousand miles closer, so, I'll guess there are enough reasons to spite the wheather.....so, till I write again, have a good night, or a good morning, wherever you are! Gute Nacht!

Comments to posts

I wanted to thank everyone for their comments, I realize that it's rather complicated to post those. Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to REPLY to comments, so, if you have a comment that requires or desires a reply, please EMAIL me!

And one more thing - most of the images I post are larger than they appear in the rear view mirror of blogspot, but if you want to see the original image, just double click on it...

I' didn't know I had it in me! Tech-wiz Corina

I can't believe it - I actually moved the image of my parents underneath the text by editing the html code. I feel like I made a hollow paperweight with lifelife florals in a hothead, or something impossible like that!

Blogspot Frustration

Looks like I'm not the only one who is having problems with the layout on Blogspot, so I followed someone's advice and opened a Wordpress account, but somehow that seems even more complicated. It puzzles me that a big company like Google can't come up with a really easy to use interface....maybe I should send Todd to work for them, he's a computer programmer and I bet he could figure that out in less than a day.

So, for now, I'll stick to blogspot, and take the "thinking from the bottom up" as a challenge, and it will influence my brain in a positive way.

Since I am trying to figure out how to move an image inside of a post, after posting it, I am adding a random picture - my parents in a "love-bear-hug". In general, I avoid showing pictures of people, because, in MY opinion, looking at pictures of people you don't know is rather boring. Even looking at pictures of ME would be boring for most readers, I think. The reason I like the photo of my parents is because it shows LOVE in a very tangible way. My parents have been married for over 50 years, and they still feel that way about each other (and express it all the time). That's nice, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy to look at that....I hope that YOUR relationship with your partner still makes you want to hug that way.

Okay - inserting a picture and moving it within the post didn't work for me. It highlights, but it doesn't go anywhere. Maybe I should give Worldpress another try. And I thought blogging would be fun - not agony. Rats

A couple of things I found at "The Mall" that could be used for bead inspiration!

The first one is a beaded purse, nothing I would want to be caught dragging around, but I can always appreciate the technical aspect of it. Get's me into the mood for my project of "The perfect aquarium bead."




And this would be a great stringer decoration.....on a "neutral colorscheme"...

Yesterday my friend Barbara took me to the beach, but on the way we stopped at a Mall to do what? Shopping? Well, the first three stores I walked by where Louis Vitton, Cartier and Tiffany's. The chances of me finding something I could afford where next to zero, so I focused on the FREE beauty - the layout and decoration of the Mall itself.
Whenever I write about something and post pictures, I ask myself - what can someone else possibly get out of this? Just showing that you're in a beautiful spot can have one very undesirable side-effect: people can get envious - and any kind of negative feeling like that can influence the "universal energy" towards a person (that sounds kind of new-agey, but I really believe it!), so, creating envy is NEVER my intention, so I hope that I can create some kind of positive feeling instead.
What I really liked about this Mall is that they really went to great length to establish an atmosphere are relaxation, where nature is drawn into a very artificial environment. So, it's time for some pictures: (oh, I think I have already fallen into the trap of the blogspot layout - the first picture was supposed to be UNDERNEATH the text...oh well).

Maui Mall Musings

One of the most puzzling things about Maui for me is the weather. It seems like this island hosts all possible weather patterns at once, except maybe for snow. The picture on the left is a good example of how this looks like: wind, sun, rain. Somewhere. On this trip I seem to be located under the raincloud, mostly. It's still lovely, and it makes me feel right at home.

Okay, it works (I still have no idea what the result looks like...). Now I have to figure out how to post a picture (since that will be the main focus of my blog), so, gimme a sec here.

Ah, picture works too, just a bit smaller than I thought, considering that I picked the "large image option". Maybe blog spot has some kind of built in censorship and didn't allow to super size this image because it's kind of boring. I'll try harder with the next one....

Aloha from Maui

I have NO idea how this blogsport thing works, so, I won't waste much time writing, but just create a short little sample sentence.