Oscars 2012

Oscars 2012

(Jewelry ???)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you watch the Oscars? I tend to get over ruled but I love to look at the Red Carpet dresses. Of course, I look for the jewelry they chose. Many only wear earrings and bracelets and not necklaces. Plus, I realize, most all jewelry pieces are "borrowed"

 

Here with Jay Lo, I understand why she did not choose to wear a necklace. It would be distracting ??? I do like this dress, however. Fortunately, she has the figure to carry it off.

 

Remember when they used to bring out handkerchiefs to be stratigically placed in in the front of low cut dresses. But I'm showing my age.

 

There were so many white dresses! One of the things I noticed was they had some trouble photographing the white dresses in videos as I do with my silver jewelry. All about the lighting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meryl Streep did not wear a  necklace either but did wear beautiful gold earrings to match her nice dress.

Gee, is that a good adjective, "nice" for a gold dress?  She joined the Green Carpet challenge wearing a dress by Eco Lavin and is totally Eco Friendly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of those that did wear necklaces, most were simple chockers like this one worn by Michelle Williams shown here in a her tiered frothy tomato-red Louis Vuitton gown.

 

Notice how they are always asked "Who are you wearing?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gwyneth Paltrow did not wear a necklace either. It really would have spoiled the dress style (In my opinion) But look at the stunning cuff bracelet. Again, another white dress.

 

Any one else wonder who the lady in black is, behind her?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well until our weekly special on Friday and next Tuesday.

 

Bev

 

 

website:http://ringbyringdesigns.com

 

Email:info@ringbyringdesigns.com

or       bevcarlson@comcast.net

 

Also find Ring by Ring Designs on Facebook http://facebook.com/ringbyring

and Twitter http://twitter.com/#!ringbyring

and now on Pinterest  http://pinterest.com/bevcarlson/

New Pendants

New Pendants

(Lots of choices)

You may remember I told you I was working on a new project. It has been slow and it in not, yet, finished by any means.

However, it is time to lift the curtain, at least a little bit. Mostly because I need input and help from all of you. bevcarlson@comcast.net

This is the first one I made. A Panda, inspired by my grandson's school mascot. The "Parkview Panda".






A little more description seems to be called for, right now, as the picture does not do the piece justice. The pendant is one inch in diameter with a ball chain of 18 inches. There is a glass dome over the picture that slightly magnifies the picture.

Obviously, at least to me, the chain can be changed both in length and type. For example, I could use the snake chain I use on the Wings of Hope and make it longer or shorter.







Here is another example for music lovers. (Excuse the glare in the picture
 - need to take more time for these pictures)

Here are some other examples. The four leaf clover for St. Patrick's Day, Ying/Yang, a horse for horse lovers and two that are just scenes. The "B" can be made in any letter and perhaps a different font, if desired. I just chose the "B" for Bev.  ;-)

And here are a few more. The paw print and picture of the "Huskies", also school mascots, the Chai symbol and one for "BFF" s. Always popular with kids.






So, now it is your turn. Do you like these ideas? Do you have any more you would like to see? The choices are almost endless. The only restrictions would be the one inch size and a picture that is not too detailed for the one inch size. Some of the ones I showed are maybe too detailed.

Drop me a note, please, with any comments.  bevcarlson@comcast.net
Thanks!


website:http://ringbyringdesigns.com

Email:info@ringbyringdesigns.com
or       bevcarlson@comcast.net

Also find Ring by Ring Designs on Facebook http://facebook.com/ringbyring
and Twitter http://twitter.com/#!ringbyring
and now on Pinterest  http://pinterest.com/bevcarlson/

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gheez, February 14 already. Wasn't it just Christmas?

 

I usually don't feature Valentine's Day as most of my customers/followers are women and usually men are the ones who buy jewelry for Valentine's Day. You may also notice that I don't have many "Valentiney" pieces avialable. That said, hearts in jewelry, usually are popular all year round.

 

Here is a Blue Heart pendant available for $20 on a nice sterling silver chain.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, I started surfing for information on Valentine's Day and thought I'd share some of what I found. (Check out the footnotes below for more reading, if you would like)

 

Did you know? While 75% of chocolate purchases are made by women all year long, during the days and minutes  before Valentine's Day, 75% of the chocolate purchases are made by men.  Over $1billion of chocolate is purchased for Valentine's Day. (A friend who owned a gift shop confirmed the fact that men are last minute shoppers - for all gifts and all occasions.) 1

 

 

Did you Know? "February 14th was formerly thought to be the first day of bird's mating for the season. This sparked the custom of sending valentines to each other."  1

 

"One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death."  2

 

 

"Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois." 2

 

So, happy surfing, if you choose to do so.

 

and Happy Valentine's Day to you all

 

New Ideas

New Ideas ??

(looking for suggestions)

 

 

 

 

Usually, it hits me in January. For various reasons, it took me until February this year to starting to look for new projects. Mostly because I've been working with Melanie on the new Lexie Jewelry, Wings of Hope pendant.

 

I'm amazed, sometimes, how long it takes to design a new piece. Gathering appropriate materials, getting a good price and good supply etc.

 

Anyhow, now I'm waiting for more materials and looking for a new project during the waiting time. I have several ways of looking for new ideas. The first one is to check out The Beading Gem Blog.

 

Pearl Blay, the very prolific blog writer of the Beading Gem, has some great posts about all kinds of jewelry.

 

 

 

 

She has featured Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry collection when it was sold for $115 million. She also has many posts about recycled materials. Some of those are nice and some not so much. Monday's post was about "Knitted Yarn and Chain Mixed Media Bracelet" This is the type of post that gives me ideas. Not sure if this will or not.

 

A few years ago, I my new project was chain maille, then the next year it was Kumihimo.

I still make pieces using those techniques. Chain maille has become very expensive to make any sizable piece.

 

So, this year, I'm looking for a new project that will be both pretty, popular and inexpensive.

Tall order, no? (That, of course, will be in addition to the Wings of Hope pendant, earrings and any other additions we come up with)

 

If any of you have some things you like to see me attempt, please, suggest away.

 

I'm thinking about making some personalized pendants. Personalize in "theme" rather than initials or names. Themes like music, Irish, school mascots and ??? Is there a favorite thing you would like?

I'm hoping to get some materials to get started this week. Maybe I'll have something to show you next week.

 

In the mean time, I'd like to have some of your ideas too.

 

 

Until this Friday's special and next week,

 

Bev

 

website:http://ringbyringdesigns.com

 

Email:info@ringbyringdesigns.com

or       bevcarlson@comcast.net

 

Also find Ring by Ring Designs on Facebook http://facebook.com/ringbyring

and Twitter http://twitter.com/#!ringbyring

Wings of Hope

Wings of Hope

(newest in Lexie's Jewelry line)

Finally here, the newest piece in Lexie's Jewelry.

In case you do not know about Lexie, she is a fifteen year old girl with brain cancer. She was first diagnosed when she was only 3 1/2 months old.

Very fortunately, her tumor and its effects have been stable recently. However, she never knows when that might change. Plus there are so many kids she has known in her short life who have not been so lucky. How hard is it to tell your child that one of their friends has died of the same disease they have?






For several years now, Lexie's patient partner and good friend of mine, Melanie Horris, has been running in the Boston Marathon raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Each year, together, we have designed a piece of jewelry in Lexie's honor. A portion of the proceeds has gone to the Dana-Farber. This year's piece is Wings of Hope.





Our first piece was Lexie's bracelet. It is made with five different colors of Swarovski Pearls and Bali Silver spacers. It is 7 ½ inches long and has a lobster claw clasp and a 2 inch extender for easy fit. The meaning of the colors in Lexie's Bracelet were chosen by Lexie.  (Click on the link above to see more)








This year's piece is a pendant we have named "Wings of Hope". The white Swarovski Pearls used, have the same meaning of HOPE as in the original bracelet. (We may expand, in the future to include the other colors in Lexie's bracelet but for now the angel is white)

The pendant is strung on an 18 inch silver plate Snake chain.




The "Wings of Hope" pendant is available on the website: "Wings of Hope"


Do stay tuned as more is coming!

Until this Friday's special and next week,

Bev

website:http://ringbyringdesigns.com

Email:info@ringbyringdesigns.com
or       bevcarlson@comcast.net

Also find Ring by Ring Designs on Facebook http://facebook.com/ringbyring
and Twitter http://twitter.com/#!ringbyring