New Website!!!

Hi Everyone,

I will be launching my new website next week. If you would like to be put on my email list to receive the "Green Girl" Newsletter, please send me an email request. Stay tuned for great new features and lots of new jewelry designs.

Thanks again for all the well wishes and suport!!!

New Website Launch: March 31, 2008 (tentative)

Booth Location @ Honolulu Festival

For the Honolulu Festival this weekend, I will be at Booth #111 at the Honolulu Convention Center in Exhibit Hall II. This is on the opposite side of the stage, in the yellow section. It's also located on the Ocean side of the Convention Center, closest to Ala Moana.

If you cannot find me, please give me a call on my cell phone (808) 221-1842 or ask any of the event staff to assist you. See you all there!!!

Next Event:

Honolulu Festival
Honolulu Convention Center
Exhibit Hall I & II
March 15-16
Sat 10am-5pm
Sun 10am-3pm
Booth #111

14th Annual Honolulu Festival

Hi Everyone,

This weekend I will participate in the 14th Annual Honolulu Festival. The Honolulu Festival is Hawaii's premier cultural event, promoting understanding, economic cooperation and ethnic harmony between the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Rim region. Each year, the Festival draws thousands of new and returning spectators who are looking for an experience beyond Hawaii. Through educational programs and activities sponsored by the Honolulu Festival Foundation, a non profit organization, the Festival continues to successfully share the rich and vibrant blend of Asia, Pacific and Hawaiian cultures with the rest of the world.

The 2008 Honolulu Festival concludes with the Grand Parade. The parade starts at Saratoga Road and continues along Kalakaua Avenue. And as always, the cultural performances and the floats will both be spectacles to see. Some of the highlights of this year’s parade include appearances by Miss Hawaii, the Cherry Blossom and Narcissus Queens, performances by top Hawaii high school bands, hula, and a variety of dance troupes representing the Pacific.

I will be in the Craft Fair, which is a representation of over 100 artists from Hawaii, Japan, and the Pacific. I will post my booth # ASAP. Here are Tina and Brian, two fellow HAA members from a previous Honolulu Festival.

I will have a ton of new necklaces and earrings from the Twinkle Collection. Jewelry from the Twinkle Collec tion features simple, everyday necklaces for $50 or less and earrings for $30 or less.

I will also hold off posting new items until my new website launch at the end of this month. I can't wait to show you all!!! The new site retained some of the charm from the previous one, but it's chock full of new elements to make your shopping experience easier and more enjoyable. I will start holding Monthly Contests, Featured Items of the Month, and lot of other exciting features. Stay tuned...

Tentative New Website Launch Date: March 31, 2008

Next Event:
Honolulu Festival
March 15-16
Sat 10am-5pm
Sun 10am-3pm
Honolulu Convention Center
Booth# TBA

Please visit Midori Jewelry online to see more jewelry items, event schedule, and stocklists.

"Storing Your Jewelry" (Part 3 of 3)

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it's been so long. I had a rough couple of weeks trying to fulfill several wholesale orders, one still on the back burner so I can attend to my sorely neglected blog. To those of you who came to visit me at Kapiolani Park in February, I had my BEST month ever there. It was an amazing weekend--beautiful weather, wonderful artists, and fabulous customers. I never get tired of meeting people who love jewelry and who appreciated the handcrafted aloha that goes into every piece of Midori Jewelry. Thanks so much!!!

Now, onto "Storing Your "Jewelry" -- this is the last segment in my run of "How to Care for Your Jewelry." As I've emphasized before, these are merely recommendations. You can feel free to take what you like, and leave what you don't. These instructions are mainly geared towards handcrafted or bridge jewelry.

All precious metals tend to oxidize over time. For sterling silver (the kind of silver I used in Midori Jewelry), silver has a chemical reaction to sulfur or sulfides that exist in the atmosphere in small quantities. When silver comes in contact with normal air, it reacts to hydrogen sulfide and causes the silver to tarnish.

Before I continue, tarnish is not necessarily a bad thing. It doesn't cause irreparable damage to your treasured pieces. I've already covered how you can clean the tarnish off, and your jewelry can regain its previous sheen. But to retard the oxidation process even further, be careful how you choose to store your jewelry.

• Some people opt to store their jewelry in Ziploc bags. I personally don't care for this tactic. If your jewelry contains fresh or salt water pearls, your pearls can become dehydrated and crack. Pearls need to breathe and be in contact with moisture in the air. It's much easier to clean a tarnished piece of jewelry than trying to crazy glue a cracked pearl!!!

• Instead, opt for a closed jewelry boxed. It's better if the jewelry box is lined with velvet or some kind of soft material to prevent gemstones and pearls from getting scratched. If your jewelry box isn't lined, you can store them in a soft cloth inside your jewelry box.

• Try to remember to close your jewelry box, as some gemstones (depending on their composition and/or treatment) can loose their color when exposed for prolonged periods to sunlight.

• Never, EVER dump your chain necklaces into a heap on your nightstand, bathroom, or in your jewelry box. I've had countless customers come to me to cut apart some of the necklaces to try and salvage others. Despite what you think, they WILL get tangled. And sometimes in a mess so severely mangled, you'll be seeing stars before you free them from each other.

Now these 3 posts may seem like a lot of information, but my feeling is that you spent a lot of money on your handcrafted jewelry pieces. You thought they were special, you bought them and brought them home for a reason. If you continue to treat your treasured pieces with some TLC, they will return it many-fold by giving you years of lasting wearability. You could very easily hand down your handcrafted jewelry (especially the Midori Jewelry pieces) to your daughter and your granddaughters. Yes, handcrafted artisan jewelry is meant to last. And it will if you follow some of the tips you've read here.

Next Event:

Honolulu Festival
March 15-16
Sat 10am-5pm
Sun 10am-3pm
Honolulu Convention Center
Booth# TBA

Please visit Midori Jewelry online to see more jewelry items, event schedule, and stocklists.