Diana Shiraishi

After shopping for jewelry to compliment a favorite scarf and not finding exactly what she envisioned Diana thought she would check out the local bead shop and see if she could make something herself. That was the fall of 2008 and by the following fall Diana started Jasmine Tea Designs offering her one-of-a-kind beaded jewelry designs.

Diana has always been creative and credits her mother for the gift of wanting to create something hand made and personal. Diana's mother taught her to sew, knit and crochet at an early age. During Diana's teen years her mother opened the neighborhood florist and that started Diana on a twenty year career as a floral designer.

Diana's professional and diverse career as a floral designer, trim purchasing agent and print product manager have served her well in the endeavor to apply her experience to jewelry design. Layout, color and texture applied with attention to quality and detail unite Diana's skills when she creates her jewelry.

Diana's travels with her husband Toru has taken her to many U.S. cities, the Hawaiian Islands, Costa Rica and Japan, and have been the source of inspiration for many of Diana's creations. Toru being of Japanese descent has influence Diana to learn more about his culture, country and art. As such Diana was inspired to design jewelry using the ancient Japanese braiding technique of kumihimo.

You can easily say that Diana gathers the experiences of her life to influence her jewelry; the basic premise of kumihimo which simply means "the gathering of threads."

Diana's vision for Jasmine Tea Designs is that of an intimate boutique of hand crafted beaded and kumihimo jewelry. "My designs reflect the inspiration I find in nature, art, and memories from my childhood".

Diana lives in northern California with her husband, Toru, and two yellow lab pups, Max & Mazzy. Diana's son Sean lives nearby with his wife Carissa and their cat, Marbles.

Custom requests are welcomed.