Jewish Christmas In Japan

Tokyo, December, cold and sunny, every departments store cheerfully decorated in Red Green and White Christmas decorations, a Christmas tree, 15 meter high springs up in Hachiko square…  Christmas jewelry for sale, Christmas carols played over loud speakers in the shopping streets, what a celebration.
And my friends... well, obviously, they're all excited about Christmas.  "So, what about you and Christmas?".  "Me… I don't celebrate… I'm Jewish…" I tell them.  "So?!" came back the puzzled replies… what's one got to do with the other?

It took me a few days longer of trying to explain why us Jews don't celebrate the birth of the Christian Christ until someone finally explained it to me… in Japan, and this I knew, they pick the fun parts out of stuff and adapt it to Japan.  In addition, the Japanese New year has been set to January 1st, when everyone goes back to their hometowns, to their families and has a traditional Japanese new year celebration. This makes Christmas the perfect time for celebrating with friends before you go home, and most importantly – it's the day to have a DATE!  Yep, if you're home alone on Christmas it's like not having a date for the prom…  

So with happy memories from Japanese Christmas and seasonal greetings, I leave you with photos of me in my Santa hat, with perfect Christmas jewelry, my red, green and white bracelet! :-)

All my LoVe and merry Christmas !

Hila.

Who Said Men Don't Wear Mokume Gane Rings?

So who said that men don’t wear Mokume Gane rings? Men like jewelry too, and when the jewelry is right, it looks great. Take my husband for instance, whose figure is posing in these very attractive photos :-)

A Mokume Gane ring can be considered ultimate jewelry for men, as it combines a number of colors and creates a unique pattern the wearer can identify with. It looks as if nature got involved in the forging process, and created a pattern through the forces of nature itself. Mokume Gane is hand crafted, creating a unique piece each time. A piece of art with a classical Japanese design, these rings hold a statement of style always relevant.

This Japanese technique where metals are pressed together to forge a unique looking piece I learnt in goldsmith school, and really fell in love with it when I moved to Japan, where I lived for 4 years and fell in love with the mokume gane galleries and artists. I decided I'd become one myself, and you can find a number of items in my collections. You can find many his and hers sets…

Today, I'd love to hear about your special other's jewelry… what does he wear? 

All my LoVe (and really soon a merry Christmas!)

Hila.

Where To Find Inspiration

After a fortnight (well, maybe a little more) of being really busy with my new jewelry collection, two kids, need for time off etc., I found a moment of total peace to tell you about inspiration.  Inspiration can come from anywhere, and so comes the story of the inspiration for this painting.

There is a tale in the Kabala of the creation of man and woman. This beautiful tale tells of how G-d created Adam and Eve connected at their backs, truly connected, as if they were one. He could not see her, she could not see him. Man and Woman were created different, but equal (yes, I hear the Feminists smiling at this one J) .

Once I heard this tale, I found the inspiration for this painting, my vision of the ancient Adam and Eve…

Inspiration can lie in anything, even stories. And they are even more fun, as you must imagine the visual story along with the words that weave the tale.  Tell me a story of your inspirations…

All my LoVe,

Hila.

To ♥ Japanese Street Fashion

You probably remember that I lived in Japan for Four good years. From the moment I landed in Japan, in Tokyo, it hit me – the colors, the freedom to choose and combine as you will, and the freedom to wear whatever you want. And they don't call you weird, they call you cool! I just fell in love with Japanese street fashion from the moment I saw it. 
Look at the photos below and see what I mean...
(and I have a challenge for you at the end of this post)

You can never go wrong with red, black & white stripes with jeans in Tokyo

Colorful layers always get some attention (when you want it)

This is how you buy a pair of knee socks in Tokyo...Where else have you seen it?

Like my belief that creativity calls for true freedom in creating whatever from whatever…  so the freedom to wear whatever makes YOU feel good is true fashion with no limits but the material you have and the way you choose to use it.  The bigger the freedom - the funkier the outfit, the more attractive and appealing.

I admit, sometimes out of context these outfits might seem bizarre, however you must try it at least once. Free your mind, choose the colors, the feel, the flow you have and wear it, go outside and don't care if no one else gets it. It's true freedom.

It is common knowledge that Israel has wonderful summers, and you can find sunny weather nearly year round… slightly problematic though if you fall in love with the Japanese street fashion trend of layers.  You see, in the Japanese winter Tokyo is COLD. The more layers the warmer you feel, the more color you can add the warmer you are – simple colorful logic. I miss it, though I've got up to 4 layers here… well, thin layers ;-)

How colorful you might be asking yourself? Here are two of my favorite Japanese street fashion blogs (that make me want to jump on a plane and go back there right now…)

http://tokyofashion.com/

http://www.japanesestreets.com/

* all the photos in this post were taken from these blogs

And now I have a challenge for you –

Let's try layers… 
or anything you wish as long as you think it's different. 
I dare you to dress up with no limits and 
add the photos to your Facebook page and tag me.
Here's a link to my page
I'll post the best ones here and promise a treat for the 
one that blows my mind.

Enjoy :-)

All my LoVe,

Hila.

Cherry Blossom Dream

I've just come back from a meeting at Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art In Haifa, where I met with the curator of my exhibition. Okay, for the sake of accuracy, I met with Moran, the Shop Manager where my jewelry is going to be exhibited on a shelf with other amazing items to be purchased in the shop museum, however it’s my humble beginning being presented in the museum.  A foot in the door of fame! ;-)

Here's one of the wonderful art jewelry pieces you can get at the museum, it's a cherry blossom charm necklace from my flower jewelry.

I was wearing the necklace on the train ride back home, remembering the train rides in Tokyo, in spring with cherry trees passing by … however the announcements in Hebrew kept getting in my way of daydreaming! Instead, I took out my notebook and drew this little cherry flower for the conductor's hat. 

Do you think they'll mind wearing it?  :-)

All my LoVe,

Hila.

Few Free Hours, Lots Of Inspiration

After a long time at home with two kids, my mom decided to give Eyal (my husband) and me a special treat of a few free hours and babysit the kids. We took the offer with two hands.  We drove not far away, just off the main road to a enchanted place named Heftziba, an old farmhouse and water mill from the early 19 hundreds. 

 

When you reach Heftziba you feel  like you've stepped into a dream, blooming nature, eucalyptus groves, a stream, green grass, birds, fish and funny large lizards who decided to run away from me instead of me running from them.

I believe inspiration is all around us, and Heftziba surely inspired me. Fascinating textures, color combinations and complex creatures, I had to photograph … and run home to create.

Wood textures:

Stone textures:

Combination of textures:

So, a day out isn't complete without the perfect outfit, here I am in my black H&M mini dress, Zara Jeans shirt, and amazing 20$ sneakers from Japan.
The jewelry I'm wearing here is part of my designs. 
You can see more of my Black & White collection here.

The day was just perfect, and I hope my mum gets the hint when I suggest we make it a monthly ritual. Just look how happy we looked at the end of the day ;-)

This is a good place to say, THANK YOU MUMMY !

All my LoVe,

Hila.

My Top 7 Butterfly Gifts For The upcoming Holiday Season

For those of you who've been following, you already know about my fascination with butterflies. As the holidays are getting closer I decided to dedicate this post to 7 (because 7 is my lucky number) cool butterfly related presents I found on Etsy, and would not say no if someone would like to get them for me ;-)

The first – AMAZING! A wonderful print of Alice in Wonderland with butterflies, printed on an old book. The perfect present for a recycle loving fan like me. Hang it up on your wall for that added touch of color for art and recycle lovers.

A butterfly ornament made of metal wire and wood, simple beauty to decorate my garden.

Recycling again – this Etsy shop charmed me and I think I'm in love. They make all these cute knick knacks out of pop tabs! Beautifully colorful. 

Love your stockings? I definitely do. I have a whole collection and these will be joining it shortly.

For those of you who love D.I.Y here's a beautiful piece of leather printed with a colorful butterflies design. I'm sure you can think of something to do with it...:-)

A great present for the girly girls (me me!) to organize all your cosmetics stuff.

Beautiful and practical butterfly pot stands. Need I say more?

I'd love to get them all, I guess I have to choose the one I love…. Maybe two…?

All my LoVe,
Hila.

Memories from a trip to Kyoto

Once upon a time, while I lived in Japan I went on an enchanted trip to Kyoto.  I was determined to see some Geisha, a dream I had since reading the book "Memories of a Geisha"…so I went to Gion, where they work, and There I met these beauties. Aren't they wonderful?

I was sure these where girls, but to my surprise they turned out to be dress up guys.

A little shock at first, but as I love to draw it inspired me to draw this 

picture… 

I had wanted to see Geisha, and asked some Japanese as to their whereabouts…it turned out it was their day off, but I could not wait around for evening, what a pity.

After that, all was left was to relax… Here I am, riding a rickshaw. A rickshaw (riksha) originated from Japan and means man-powered vehicle. As you might be able to see, the guy pulling me around the streets of Gion is quite muscular, which I found a bonus, though I not sure he has the best job, hot humid and sticky, but he put a smile on for the photo none the less ;-) 

All in all, a great day! 

The sweet memory of this trip resulted in these fan earrings, layered with color, like the layers of a kimono.

Special rice paper imported from Japan creates this effect of layers, and adds the color of Kyoto to these gold plated fan earrings. 

All my LoVe,

Hila.

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To ♥ Butterflies

"Living is not enough", said the butterfly. "One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower" - Hans Christian Andersen.

Butterflies! I’ve always been attracted to butterflies. I don’t know why, but something about that fragile being always touches me. Its colorfulness, its magnetizing beauty, its tenderness, and such a short existence make you think about life in a different way.

I find myself pondering about the butterfly’s metamorphosis, and all it goes through from the moment it hatches from its egg until it lays its own eggs and ends its life. From an egg, to a caterpillar, then in a cocoon and eventually the most amazing butterfly.

Here's one of my unique butterfly jewelry:

Achieving so much in such a short lifespan with so much beauty made me think about our life and how we too are like butterflies in some way. We are complex and amazing beings (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise), however our life too can go by like a flash and we should live it to the fullest like the butterfly does. That’s how life should be, meaningful, colorful, and full of beauty. 

I’ve created my butterfly album on pinterest, you can take a look :-)

All my LoVe, 

Hila.

So Fan To Edit Photos !

I'd like to share with you a cool new freeware I found for editing photos: http://www.picmonkey.com/

It's great fun for any purpose and can even be useful for professional looking photos, just take a photo, and start editing and adding awesome effects. Take a look at what I've succeeded in doing so far:

                                                   With frame

                                        (happy new year in  Hebrew)  

Overlays

Focal soften effect and overlay

So fan and cute!

Another great idea is to take some of these photos and create a scrapbook with a twist, combining all your own photos for great memories ;-)

All my LoVe,

Hila.

Cross Body Bags

Being a sworn fan of bags and shoes (aren't we all?) I've got this perfect collection of links to cross body bags I'm definitely going to own one day. They're perfect for the autumn and all year round too :-)

Here are some great ones from Etsy.com, a site I love for my ability to meet many small designers and buy directly from them. I have my own shop there too which you're more than welcome to visit ;-)

So here's my top 10 cross body bags list:

               A combination of red and black & white stripes looks great with just              

                                             about anything.

                                 For all of you who likes a little bit goth:  

Lady's, do you smell it? haaa... I love vintage...

How can we do without geometric??

And pink?

That last one is so unique

O.K, more than 10, I know...I just couldn't help my self...

All my LoVe

Hila.