This weekend gave me a lot to think about, including but not limited to, the dangers of falling asleep on my roof-deck for 2.5 hours in the blazing sun. Ouch!!

Okay, moving on today’s designer, meet the super talented Justine Collins of singleBbeautiful.

Justine began making jewelry because she likes to make beautiful things with her hands. Her 100% handmade designs include silver and gold, and precious and semi-precious gemstones. Inspired by ancient jewelry, her creations are both thoughtfully crafted and timeless in design.   All of the metals she uses are 100% recycled and do not encourage destructive mining practices.

You can purchase her designs on Etsy and read about the process on her blog.

You have no idea how badly I want to take a jewelery making class. They have one at MassArt, but knowing me and my perpetually overbooked schedule, I would probably end up missing half the classes anyway… I digress. More later.

It’s May!! I am so excited for spring/ summer!

Anyway, today’s designer is Brian Western of Western Art Glass. He makes gorgeous jewelry (love the earrings) and stained glass out of things like recycled beer and wine bottles. I think his designs are absolutely beautiful, unique and totally in the spirit of spring!

Ok, I have tons of work to do before I leave so I am gonna run… have a great day!

I haven’t had much time to be introspective lately. For whatever reason, stuff keeps happening in rapid succession, so I don’t have any time to actually digest things. It’s like, in the very moment I begin to make sense of one situation, a new one emerges that needs my immediate attention and so on and so on. Hopefully this weekend will offer a reprieve.

In terms of designers, I thought I would leave you with obsession-worthy artist, Chhaya Kapadia. She founded Maya Jewels in 2004 to rave reviews. I adore her Eclipse collection which is inspired by an ancient art form originating as far back as the early 13th century. These painstakingly handcrafted bangles are the definition of wearable art!

About Chhaya Kapadia

Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Chhaya spent her childhood surrounded by bright colors, elaborate art and women wearing bangles up to their elbows. Inspiration to become an artist was around every corner, but upon completing a degree in science, she married and moved to New York City. Hard-working and ambitious, Chhaya thrived in the finance technology world, moving up quickly to high-ranking positions at Citibank, NASDAQ and Kaiser Permanente. Then, when many people in her field began to plan for retirement, Chhaya began planning her new career as a jewelry designer. All her childhood dreams, combined with the inspiration of living in New York City, bottled up for decades came flowing out into what we know today as Maya Jewels.

Enjoy, and happy Easter!

Also, be sure to check out all the great blogs on Amber Magazine’s A-List Publishers page!

February is my birthday month and I’ve always loved the fact that amethyst is my birthstone. I love the rich purple! One look, and you can imagine how much I LOVE Marie Maciel’s beautiful b-stone ring (the one on top). Then I saw the price…  $12.00. Seriously, no joke. $12.00 for a sterling silver ring with a bezel set amethyst and a shank (the part that holds the stone) made of hand drawn round sterling silver. Yay! Recession-friendly splurge!

Marie started her jewelry business in Sweden approximately 10 years ago and moved to the US 5 years later. Her Etsy shop, Birka Scandinavian features over 100 great designs.  Her focus is to produce elegant designs at affordable prices, which basically makes her a saint in this economy!  The designs are based on traditional chain pattern work as well as innovative forms based on the principles of modern Scandinavian design. The jewelry is handcrafted into timeless and elegant pieces intended for everyday use as well as for special occasions. Her influence comes essentially from ancient jewelry which she studied as an archaeologist in Sweden.
Aside from making it possible to treat ourselves during an economic downturn, Marie also spreads the love to a cause close to my heart. She supports ASPCA, The Humane Society of the United States , Alley Cat Allies  and SAVE - A Friend of Homeless Animals. I got my cat Kobe from the MSPCA and watched Black Cat Rescue, a wonderful organization here in Boston, literally perform miracles with some homeless cats.

So here’s my Friday gift to you… gorgeous jewelry that you’ll want to buy, that you can actually afford to buy and that you can feel good about purchasing. Go ahead, splurge a little!

I can’t believe it’s almost February! It’s crazy NY Fashion week is just a couple weeks away. Anyway, I am channeling my energy into creative endeavors today… we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, I thought I’d feature the extremely creative Polthakorn Viboonviriyawong’s gorgeous jewelry collection Vilaiwan. As I have mentioned before, I’m not really a huge jewelry person… so when I find a designer I love I’m always compelled to share. About Polthakorn:

Polthakorn Viboonviriyawong, called Jo-Jo by friends and family, grew up in the jewelry business. Born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, Jo-Jo watched his mother start and build a successful diamond business. His earliest creative memories are of his mother (Vilaiwan) asking him to use his burgeoning design skills to help design new settings for her jewelry. When design became his passion, Vilaiwan sent him to the US, to study and turn his passion into a career. In honor of her support, Vilaiwan Fine Jewelry was born.

Jo-Jo received is masters at one of LA finest art schools, FIDM (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) and graduated #1 in his class. While there, Jewelry became his passion. His vision is of jewelry that is not just a mere accessory. Vilaiwan is jewelry as art: art that makes a statement: a statement of personality, a statement of energy. Inspired by many vintage styles, Vilaiwan designs have made the flower the centerpiece of its design and its signature.

Every piece of Vilaiwan jewelry is designed by Jo-Jo and hand made. Using his extensive relationships in the jewelry business abroad, he has secured the best materials. These are pieces that you will not find anywhere in the world partly because many of the material are limited and therefore unavailable to other producers. This also means that most of the Vilaiwan collection cannot be mass-produced. When buying from Vilaiwan, you are buying an original.

Enjoy… and enjoy my random song of the day :).

Traveling always takes a lot out of me… not only the change of scene and never ending plane ride, but the stack of stuff and making-up-for-lost-time that’s always waiting when I get back. So I apologize  for posting. I should be back on the ball as long as the internet I’m stealing remains functional!

I don’t know quite what to think about today’s designer … I’m definitely feeling the concept…. it just kind of caught me off guard. That seems to be happening a lot in my life lately, and my overall philosophy is to just go with it!
Hafsteinn Juliusson is a product designer from Reykjavik, Iceland. His online portfolio reveals several interesting projects, none more so than his growing jewelery collection. “Growing Jewelry is a redefinition of modern values. It is a clash of jewelry an gardening; couture and organism. The collection of this hand jewelry is designed for people in metropolitan cities and is an experiment in drawing nature toward man, as nature being the presupposition of life.”  Juliusson likes to approach design from new perspectives and aims to reach a diverse range of people. His emphasis on society, ecology are apparent with these interesting, thought provoking pieces. Forget brass knuckles, check out his Grass knuckles!  

A torn ACL?! Say it ain’t so Tom!! Just when I was getting all excited for the football season…I’m wondering if Giselle is to blame in all this…
Anyway it’s Monday. Manic Monday (song of the day).
I’m debating whether or not it’s ok not to bring a suit jacket to work. I think that’d be pushing the envelope just a bit… it’s days like this I scorn the person who invented the suit. Anyway, since the song of the day is from way back in 86, I thought this awesome necklace from Complete Technique would compliment the post well. Complete technique has tons of fun, creative pieces that pay homage to the MCs in your life. Based in NYC, you can also check out Complete Technique on MySpace.

Why can’t things just make sense? Why does everything have to be so complicated all the time?
That’s why I like fashion so much. It’s easy to covet, easy to fall for, and ultimately, it’s not too difficult to make even the most sought after piece a part of your life.* The best part is, it can’t break your heart (or help you break your own heart?!) unless of course you try something super-expensive on in the store and buy it with a no return policy, only to find out it looks hideous on you at home (the better the store, the trickier the mirrors!). Even then, the damage is only to your ego and bank account. It can be easily remedied by giving what you bought to a friend or never buying anything by that designer ever again. I may or may not be speaking from experience…
Anyway, here’s a jewelery designer that will leave you with no buyer’s remorse! In fact, as soon as you add one of her fabulous pieces to her collection, I’m sure you’ll be back for more. Megan Auman makes amazing sculptures and jewelry.  Her work explores the floral patterns found in textiles and decorative ironwork.  Megan employs a torch welding technique to create her steel jewelry and sculpture. Her work explores the ubiquity of decoration. She’s at her best when she takes botanical imagery and distils it to it’s simplest form – producing work that is unique, graphic and modern. I love these bracelets!  Check out her site and shop her Etsy store!

*Obviously depending on your financial status, you may have to wait a few years or get some acceptable knock-off, but you know what mean.

I’m sitting here sketching pictures for my never-ending (or, more accurately, never finishing) book. I got re-inspired the other night while standing outside this horrible little bar in the South End (the clientèle totally forced me outside and into a conversation with Smit in D.C.)… As I rambled on about love, life, and Boston nightlife, I became reinvigorated and refocused on this little endeavor I dreamt up sometime back in 2005. Over the weekend I pulled out the art supplies and began to sketch some of my ideas. As often happens when I’m done drawing, there’s a sea of crumpled paper, paired with a stack of pencil shavings left on the desk. The causalities of my creativity. Australian artist Victoria Mason knows all about pencil shavings… You see Victoria literally used to try to save perfect pencil shavings. “They looked so beautiful, especially if I’d sharpened a couple of different colours. But they’d never keep.” This line of thought inspired her adorable “pencil shavings” necklaces which are available on oye modern. A perfect gift for your artist-friends (or yourself) these necklaces are sure to get smiles! Be sure to check out some of her other creative jewelry designs, including her cute little peg earrings and sneaker freaker necklace.