Aloha and welcome everyone.

If this is your first time visiting, I’m truly happy you stopped by. And for those of you who have been following along during my vacation, thank you for coming back to see what I’ve been creating during my quiet moments away.

This trip has been filled with family time — visiting my sisters, spending time with my niece and nephew, and helping my mom at her fruit farm. The days have been busy and full, but also very meaningful, and I’ve been enjoying the slower rhythm of being home.

Even though I’m away from my main work table, creativity never really stops for me. In between family moments and little breaks throughout the day, I’ve been sorting, preparing, and working with my shells — slowly bringing new ideas to life.

I also shared a few blogs during my absence, so if you’d like to catch up, feel free to look around and read them when you have time.

And now… let’s talk about what I’ve been creating during those quiet free moments.

Packing Shells for Quiet Creative Moments

Before I left, I already knew I would probably have a few quiet pockets of time for creating, so I decided to bring some shells with me — just in case inspiration showed up.

Because I love working with Momi shells, I packed a few small bags in different shades: soft yellows, blue tones, and some spotted shells. I also brought a selection of Kahelelani shells, just in case I felt inspired to create a Kipona or Heleconia style while I was away. If you would like to learn more about Heleconia style, you can click here to explore more.

 

The Momi shells I brought still needed a little preparation, so I made sure to pack ones that were already pre-sorted from imperfect shells. This allowed me to skip the first sorting step and move straight into cleaning away the sand — giving myself plenty of options to play with during my creative time.

What Did I Create?

Since I only had small pockets of free time, I decided that earrings were the perfect choice to work on during my vacation.

After cleaning the sand from the Momi shells, I started looking through my color collection to see what sizes, shades, and patterns I had available. This is always one of my favorite moments — quietly studying the shells, comparing tones, and imagining how they might come together in a finished design.

And honestly, during all this prepping, my fingers started getting quite bruised. I’m pretty sure this wasn’t exactly what my body imagined when I said “vacation.” Since the plane landed, I don’t think I’ve really stopped moving once — but creating always makes me happy, so I just keep going.

I ended up creating many small Pikake, Kipona, and some Heleconia-style handmade Niʻihau shell earrings. The pieces turned out even more beautiful than I expected, especially since I only brought a limited amount of shells with me on this trip. Sometimes less really is more. When you have fewer shells to work with, it pushes you to become more creative with what you have. It’s a challenge, but also fun at the same time.

As you can see in the photos, many of these designs feature beautiful blue and yellow Momi shell earrings — colors that felt lively and inspiring while I was working away from my usual studio.

I also started working on some pineapple-style earrings. Since I didn’t bring any Laiki shells with me on this trip, I could only create partial versions for now. Sometimes you simply work with what you have, and this became another fun challenge that encouraged me to think in new ways.

I will slowly finish the hooks, take proper photos, and continue updating these new creations on my website as they are completed. Some pieces are still in progress, but I’m excited to share each step as they come together.

Each design is made as a one-of-a-kind piece, so once it’s gone, I won’t be recreating the exact same design again. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime — I’m always happy to help.

A Big Thank You for Your Orders

Now that I’m home again, I’ve been slowly packing the orders placed between February 3 and March 8. This year, during my vacation, I decided to leave my website active, and I’ve been so touched to see many orders come in from the day I left until now. I truly want to thank each and every one of you for your support, your orders, and your patience while waiting for your shipments.

I also feel very grateful to many customers who took the time to send kind messages, feedback, and testimonials through my Etsy shop at ShellsHawaii, as well as through private messages that I can share on my website. Your words, encouragement, and support truly mean so much to me, and they continue to inspire me to keep creating and sharing my work. Thank you for being part of this journey with me.

   

For custom orders, I’m currently fully booked for this month, and I’m so thankful to many of my customers who have been patiently waiting since October last year to place their custom pieces. During the holiday season, I was very busy packing orders and creating new items, and many of those pieces quickly sold out around that time of year. I truly appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding, and I’ll reopen custom orders again once I finish the items already lined up.

I’ll also be adding more loose shell supplies to my website soon, so there will be more to look forward to.

Much aloha once again for your support, your orders, and your kind messages. I truly appreciate being able to share this journey with you.

As you can see in the above photos, many of these designs feature beautiful blue and yellow Momi shell earrings — colors that felt lively and inspiring while I was working away from my usual studio.

I also started working on some pineapple-style earrings. Since I didn’t bring any Laiki shells with me on this trip, I could only create partial versions for now. Sometimes you simply work with what you have, and this became another fun challenge that encouraged me to think in new ways.

I will slowly finish the hooks, take proper photos, and continue updating these new creations on my website as they are completed. Some pieces are still in progress, but I’m excited to share each step as they come together.

What Comes Next

If you would like to see individual photos after the earrings are fully finished, please check the earrings category on my website. The updates may not appear all at once, but I will try to add new pieces little by little as they are completed.

I will also be sharing more behind-the-scenes stories about creating these new Pikake, Kipona, and Heleconia styles in upcoming blogs, so please stay tuned and check back often.

For my custom order clients who are currently on the waiting list, thank you so much for your patience. Please allow me a couple of weeks to settle back in, recover from the time difference, spend some quiet time with my husband, and begin working through your pieces with care.

I will continue finishing the new items I created during this trip and add them to the website as they are ready. I will also be contacting everyone shortly with updates.

Thank you again for your patience and for supporting my work all this time. I truly appreciate everyone who follows along, visits my website, and takes time to read my blogs.

Much aloha,
Janjira