Of recent happenings :) Fitness and Art

Greetings! In Mushu's verbiage...

Been quite a hiatus for me and blogging. This sounds dramatic but it almost feels like I'm at some cross roads in life so I have been focusing on that.... that and keeping up with my health and fitness goals for Tough Mudder.

Speaking of Tough Mudder, training recently has really been dominated by Zuzana's Workouts as can be seen on her YouTube. She is amazing. AMAZING. We have dramatically increased our overall fitness and cardiovascular endurance as a result of this training. And you don't have to work longer (in fact, we have worked shorter sessions), you just have to work harder and smarter. Our workouts are now 30 minutes on average, most of the time more around 20, but it's ridiculous and we're completely exhausted by the end, can not do another rep, and will be sore the next day. As people who work full time (and as an artist during the other times..), the more time efficient things we can do, the better!

Here's one of my favorite workouts from Zuzana.

!!!!
Burpee Torture!! 

Remember, good form! And it's totally OK to modify movements; I still have to modify a lot of my movements to keep my form good / to avoid injury. Filming yourself or working out with your partner is a great way of becoming more aware of your form. Most of us have no idea what we actually look like until we see ourselves from a different angle; totally normal-- it's a learning process!

We've increased our workouts to 5-6 days/week, mainly actually  because it just feels great, not because we're trying to push push push or whatnot.

Our diet has also undergone a few changes. We are eating a more protein based diet with less simple sugars/carbs. Avoiding carbs (like white rice) at dinner if possible. We feel really, really awesome.

Dare I say.. bf and I are getting addicted to these workouts?

Next post I'll share my super healthy (yet delicious) banana bread recipe with you all.

Meanwhile on the creation front I have still been busy!

I was recently accepted as a member of the Artisan Group and have joined a gifting to Mariska Hargitay, from Law and Order: SVU!

When I was a freshman in college, the roomie and I used to watch SVU all. the. time. So much it was kind of ridiculous actually. It was kinda fate that I was able to prepare the following goodies to gift her:

I went on a cuff binge over the weekend and created these cuffs:

I think it's funny how art comes in phases.

Also these earrings have been in the works for a long time, but I needed a few hours of free time to sit down and make them..

I have had requests to do Super Nova earrings for seriously 2 years now. I am finally committing to the idea, and am so glad I did. These are quite intricate, very flashy. I'm going to have to find an excuse to make myself a pair in crystal clear and wear them to work with a plain shirt...

I also have some potentially exciting news but since I don't know anything for certain yet I can not share :X

HOW IS EVERYONE?!

Lisa
SHOPHEQI
lisaHQCD@gmail.com

Home-Made HEALTHY power bars, Cuff Earrings!

In attempt to eat healthier and also save money, I made my won power bars recipe.

I have an amazing friend who is a nutritionalist-- and she makes this amazing bread pudding dessert out of sprouted bread and delicious chocolates. I've been making a drier version of it, and slightly more toned down with less sugar and things like that so it can be consumed as a power bar.

I don't have an exact recipe for it, but here's the gift of the ingredients I used. It's pretty crucial you keep it whole grain only or else it defeats the purpose of it.

INGREDIENTS:
- 5 -6 slices of whole grain, organic sprouted bread (you can buy this at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, not  more expensive than regular bread)
- 3-5 Tablespoons Organic Blonder Coconut Palm brand sugar (low glycemic index)
- 2 TBS honey
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1.5 cups milk (I used low-fat)
- 3 eggs (only 2 pictured, helps hold the mixture together)
- nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit to taste and cocoa powder
OPTIONAL but recommended: additional flax seeds, amarynth flour, oatmeal





Cut bread into small cubes:


Combine ALL WET INGREDIENTS + sugar and honey/cocoa powder if you used any if you want chocolate flavor.

Put the cubed bread in there, LET THE BREAD SOAK UP the wet mixture.
It should be pretty slimy and gross looking, but I promise it'll be delicious.

Add in the dry ingredients, mix until combined:



Put into 9 X 13 pan:


Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. When a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, it's ready! Do note oven temperature vary from oven to oven!

Unfortunately, I did not remember to take a photo of it when it was done, oops! But it was delicious and co-workers loved it. Woot! I think I'll make more since it only lasted 2 days...

But things are only as healthy as your portions, so just because in inherently healthy doesn't means you can eat  half of it in one sitting. Though you'll want to.

In jewelry news, I've replenished the stock of cuffs :)
Made 3 new cuffs yesterday!








Also, if you are a reader and you'd like to score a FREE SAMPLE of my new Lip Balm (this is NOT released yet!), please send me an email here: heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com and name the message "lip balm sample". US Customers only please (sorry!!!) and don't forget to include your FULL NAME and SHIPPING ADDRESS.


Till next time,
Lisa
lisaHQCD @ Twitter
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He Qi Updates (GWP, NEW) and Giving Thanks (your thoughts?)

It's SO CLOSE to Thanksgiving!

Today was my last day at work for the week-- I'm taking the day off tomorrow. Two day weeks are amazing and rare. For those of you who are still in school and get to enjoy the one week break: BASK IN THE AWESOMENESS OF BREAK! Put your midterms into the back of your mind for 2-3 days and just... relax, enjoy the weather (yes, even if its horrible)-- because when you start working full time, I promise that you will miss this.

Anyway, since I will be traveling until Sunday, I needed to give everyone on blog the updates!!

For BLACK FRIDAY this year, I am giving away the following He Qi Mineral Shadow deluxe samples with EVERY purchase:









The idea was that I put together a palette suitable for the Holidays. What do you think? Festive enough? :)

I will also have a Cyber Monday sale, but those details will have to wait till Sunday night...

In other news, I received a huuuuuuuuuuge shipment from Korean earlier today. Got home from work around 4:30 and made earrings until now (it's 10:10PM here).

So the following are some works I am particularly proud of. The quality is just simply great-- if I can wear them (and I'm allergic to every non-biocompatible metal on the planet), you will be able, too.

When I was young, I remember someone told me that when dragonflies come out, it means the weather will be changing very soon-- I can see it where I live! It's getting much colder in the mornings/evenings.


I saw these 4-point star links and swooned a little. They remind of high fashion shapes..


More cuffs for your lovin'


This set is gorgeous. So pure. No words can describe how happy I am with the way this turned out:


Oh goodness, some BREAKING DAWN inspired earrings:

Who has seen the movie already? Bella wears this filigree hair ornament, and I decided to make my own version of it. Quite different, but same classic goth feeling (well, mine is a bit more dark and gothy...)

I found these STUNNING dove hooks, and just HAD to incorporate them into my collection:


And last but not least

I am so, SO happy with these. I rarely have a batch of work all done in one that I can be so proud of, so today was a good day for me :D. These studs are simply adorable, but are not cheap and will go well with pretty much any outfit, dressed up or down.

It's not too late to get your orders in for the Holidays! Please send them to me ASAP so I have ample time to work on them. Also, don't forget to use the Holiday Cheer Coupons!

JEWELRY ASIDE....

What is everyone doing this Thanksgiving (if anything?)
I will be visiting my parents, and then visiting with Brian's parents.
We plan to feast. :D I plan to work out tomorrow so I won't feel too guilty.. though I doubt 1 workout during the break will have and effect on negating the gluttony I will be experiencing....

What are you thankful for in your life?
At where I am right now, there are so many things I am thankful for:
- my amazing family and friends
- my awesome working environment and co-workers
- my health
- my kitties
- being lucky enough to have all I need, and most of what I want
... and so many other things. Sometimes it's good to sit down and reflect on all the wonderful, positive things happening in your life.

Will you be participating in Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales?
Well, I doubt I'll shop on Friday. It's just too hectic.
I will definitely browse some sales on Monday...

Please leave your comments below! I would love to hear from you. Though I won't be blogging, I definitely will have internet access and will make every effort to get back to during this short vacation.

Lastly, don't forget to enter the He Qi Holiday GIVEAWAY, and SPREAD THE WORD!

Much love, and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!
Lisa
heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com
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New Cuff set & Earrings & Turtle Charm! Macarons,.

okay okay okay.

So first, I wanted to share my experience with making macarons... using egg whites that have not been aged...

I nuked them for 5 seconds at a time, for 20 seconds, in the microwave to speed up the aging process. Otherwise, the whites came straight out of the fridge, newly separated from the yolks.

I can't say they're perfect, but good enough to use.

The feed spread apart SO much during cooking, but the texture of the cookie was really right on.
I sandwiched them with lemon curd, and brought them to work. They were delicious.







And I made new earrings:

Large, beautiful, sterling silver leaves :)

And another one of a kind cuff set!


AAND... brought back a beaded turtle :D


Enjoy the photos of the goodies :)

In other news, congrats to MeiBelle for winning the random mask giveaway!
Please email me your shipping address, love!

What is everyone doing this weekend?

Until next time!

Lisa

heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com

www.shopheqi.com
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October = Breast Cancer Awareness Month

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation: Each year it is estimated that nearly 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die. Approximately 1,700 men will also be diagnosed with breast cancer and 450 will die each year. The evaluation of men with breast masses is similar to that in women, including mammography.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. At the office, we have been holding fundraisers for the last two weeks, and will continue holding them for the next few weeks, until we reach a goal of $2000 worth of donations. Without funding, it's extremely difficult to continue research that will help save lives.

For the entire month of October, I will be donating 100% of net proceeds on ANY PRODUCT that I sell on my website, so long as it has PINK in it. ANY amount of pink in it.... so this month, shop with a purpose :)

A good example of a new product with PINK in it:


And another product with PINK in it:


More pink?


Not pink, but they're new goodies :)





... I still haven't had a chance to really sit down and blog about what's been going on lately... that'll have to wait till I have more down time.

Till then, spread the word about Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and DONATE, but whichever means you can.

Lisa

heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com

www.shopheqi.com
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New Goodies + Sewn Goodies : GIVEAWAY! :)

SooOOoOOoO I was able to get a surprising about of crafting done :) I was able to make more earrings:









And... a couple of pouches that I am happy enough to put up for sale..... the prices are so low because these are "prototypes" and are not "perfect".

The first is a little rectangle pouch:

Perfect for gals who want to store their pads on the go (keeps it separated in your purse from all the other stuff), or for some small  travel.
I AM GIVING THIS POUCH AWAY TO ONE READER-- just comment on this post with any SEWING projects you'd like to see in the future :), yes, it's that easy. My plan for the future goes away from pouches-- I've also sewn cat collars for my cats, and I'm thinking of making wristlets, pencil cases, brush rolls-- and you can tell me what else :)

And... the first pouch up for sale is this boxy pouch:






Okay, that's it for today. Talk to you soon.


ooOo also, look what's back in stock:

A variation of the Rockstar Angel cuff set :)

And eye candy, a custom set for Joanne:


love,
Lisa
heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com
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