It’s October and with it, Breast Cancer awareness month and it’s time we ALL start thinking about miracles! As a partner in Surviving Beautifully, a brand new project to help women with aesthetic issues during treatment, it’s my latest, heartfelt work. I promise more about that later. For now, the ... Read More »]]> “I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and… I believe in miracles. ” – Audrey Hepburn

It’s October and with it, Breast Cancer awareness month and it’s time we ALL start thinking about miracles! As a partner in Surviving Beautifully, a brand new project to help women with aesthetic issues during treatment, it’s my latest, heartfelt work. I promise more about that later. For now, the jewelry and fashion lover in me wants to Think Pink with style. Move over, my beloved pink ribbon, here are some picks for cool pink jewels and accessories:

Michael Von Krenner 14K Gold & Pink Spinel Ring

Gorgeous and sophisticated beyond belief!

Here are some beautiful, delicate earrings by Cathy Waterman with a decidedly antique flair:

Cathy Waterman Earrings

I’m thinking about them with a tailored Byron Lars dress I just saw….

Now onto the less serious: remember these? Who doesn’t! I guess the classics [??] never get old.

Jelly Bracelets

Sorry, designers, these are so ubiquitous that I didn’t know who to credit them to!

But jewelry can’t have ALL the fun: pink leather goods need some love too. Chanel is known for the subtle color palette, and this tote is no exception. C’mon, dontcha want it even if you don’t love baby pink 1000%?

Pink Chanel Tote

Don’t forget your keys: the King of Color, Jonathan Adler, has just the thing to corral them in cuteness:

Jonathan Adler Pink Poodle Keychain

The edgy German fashion designers Dirk Bikkembergs is known for his darkly quirky style. His pink kicks are quite a departure from his post-industrial chic and are just the thing to walk in this October.

Dirk Bikkembergs Pink Soccer Shoes

Finally, not to be too matchy-matchy, a classic shade from OPI: good color, great cause!

D

OPI Pink of Hearts Nail Lacquer

Be sure to think pink this month and support breast cancer awareness and research. Komen for the Cure is always a great place to start learning how to get involved.

A stud earring is very similar to a studly guy: handsome, versatile and easy to wear…um, you know what I mean! Before I get myself in hot water, here’s are some of my picks for Sexiest Stud Alive.

Boy do I heart Vivienne Westwood, and her silver studs are no exception. These little gems sport Westwood’s ... Read More »]]>

Move aside Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey and the Old Spice guy…there’s a new stud in town. He’s slick, shiny and hard – colorful, too – and maybe a little naughty. He’s…AN EARRING?? Haha, betcha didn’t see that coming. Or maybe, knowing me, you did.

A stud earring is very similar to a studly guy: handsome, versatile and easy to wear…um, you know what I mean! Before I get myself in hot water, here’s are some of my picks for Sexiest Stud Alive.

Boy do I heart Vivienne Westwood, and her silver studs are no exception. These little gems sport Westwood’s inimitable logo and style despite their tiny size.

Vivienne Westwood silver-tone heart stud earrings

Asos Skull Earrings

Toast Earrings by The Tiny Fig

Anita Ko White Gold Panther Stud Earrings

Betsey Johnson Lip studs

Sophie Harley Dove Earrings

Cartier

My love affair with leather began long before my bumper sticker and continues long after. Gone is the 1980s, and 1990s, and 2000s and with the decades, ... Read More »]]> When I was 18, I put a bumpersticker on my car from a leather boy shop in Boston. Sporting discreet little handcuffs, it read: “It’s Better in Leather.” This really spiffed up my uber-dorky VW Dasher! My feeling of cool was cut short when, unsurprisingly, my parents removed it. I was hugely annoyed at their bourgeois mentality but soon realized that suburban New England was not ready for me…or my pretentious leather.

My love affair with leather began long before my bumper sticker and continues long after. Gone is the 1980s, and 1990s, and 2000s and with the decades, my Ramones jacket and cowboy boots with duct tape. So instead I now enjoy a little leather jewelry. Eschewing the ubiquitous Chan Luu beaded leather bracelets, here are some of my current favorites which sport a little of that old leather-loving style.
Leave it to the French to put the S for Style into S & M – this serious chunker from Givenchy sports bi-color metals and softened spikes:

Silver and Gold Studded Bracelet by Givenchy

For you natural types, check out this leafy choker by Natalie Brown. Resplendent with ferns and a dreamy aura to boot, it’s just the thing with a slouchy, off-the-shoulder tunic.

Natalie Brown fern shaped neck piece

A little more discreet but still sporting a rocker fleur-de-lis motif are these shabby-chic beauties from Early Jewelry.

Black Leather earrings by Early Jewelry

Why should “chicks” have all the fun? Here’s a truly guy’s style wrap bracelet with a birdie skull from LostApostle jewelry on Etsy.

Bronze and Leather Raven Skull Bracelet

Need something a little less hardcore and a little more fun? Check out this knotted orange leather ring by byboe jewelry. I like the ring cuz it’s cool, but especially because I’m fortunate to counts its designer, Annika Salame, as one of my students!

Orange Leather Knot Ring by byboe

Let’s end on a happy note: this bib necklace by tomgirl jewelry is piled with colorful leather leaves and just makes me want to smile.

TomGirl Necklace

My bumper sticker was right: it IS better in leather!

PS: If you’re a DIYer, you may want to peek into this cool book by Lark Books and make your own leather lovelies!

Leather Jewelry

1. Frozen juice can. Mmm, orange juice. Cranberry? How about those frozen daiquiri mixes? Use them for jewelry now and savor the flavor later, for in ... Read More »]]> Old is new. Recycling, re-purposing and re-creating are the marching orders of the day. THIS is nothing new to jewelers who, over the centuries, have become quite adept at adopting tools and tricks from other trades for their craft. Here are some creative tips of my own using humble household goods. They work great in a pinch…or if you just want to try something new!

1. Frozen juice can. Mmm, orange juice. Cranberry? How about those frozen daiquiri mixes? Use them for jewelry now and savor the flavor later, for in a pinch, these cool columns make a great alternative to a bracelet mandrel. I use frozen juice cans for several projects in my book Chic Metal like the cuff bracelet above, and they work like a charm. And taste great, too!

2. Dental Floss. Yes, good oral hygiene is important. But boring old floss is good for several things in the jewelry world as well. Here’s how: place a strip of it in a closed bezel so you can take out the stone easily if necessary without endlessly thumping the back of the bezel with a wooden object, mucking up the stone with mortician’s wax, or nicking up the bezel by trying to pry it open. Another plus of the floss: you can use it to remove tiny shavings in tight corners that you have sawed. Just like your teeth! (if you’ve been chewing on metal, that is).

3. Wite-Out. It’s kinda fallen out of favor in this day of e-mail and word processing, but it’s still around and as white and thick as ever. For lawyer’s offices, its uses are obvious. For jewelers? It’s a great alternative to yellow ochre! Who knew that this pale sludge could stop the flow of solder as well as its icky brownish counterpart? Well, it does. And believe it or not, it’s actually a bit less messy.

4. Black plastic garbage bag. Of course, of course you say! Use it for…stone setting??? Yes. A small piece of black garbage bag placed under an opal in a bezel setting makes the stone look great. You can also oxidize the interior of the bezel but why not just use the bag and save the environment while adding beauty to your piece? PS: Works great to give a little goth to Rutilated Quartz, too.

5. Krazy Glue. No, NOT for setting stones! It’s too brittle and will flake off the setting. But for gluing a paper model/template to a sheet of metal to saw, nothing’s better. While rubber cement can peel up at the edges and gunk up your saw blade, Krazy Glue sticks like, uh, crazy! When you’re done, just burn off the template with your torch.

6. Coat Hangers. Forget Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest, you Do want to use the metal ones. Cut them in 8” lengths and use them as cheap-o soldering picks. ‘Nuff said.

7. Alka Seltzer. If you’re of a certain age, you may remember the Alka Seltzer jingle “Pop Pop Fizz Fizz Oh What a Relief It Is.” Whether you do or not, you’ll be relieved to find that Alka Seltzer dissolved in water makes a nice cleaner for jewelry.

8. Ketchup. Hold the fries this time! Ketchup works great as a cleaner for copper to get the verdigris – otherwise known as unattractive green sludge – gone. Slop it on, rinse and dry. And you can amuse the kids: put a tarnished penny in some of this tasty tomato condiment. Take it out after a bit and rinse it off: presto! A new shiny penny! Fun for the whole family!

9. Lemon Juice and Vinegar. They’re fish n’ chips best friends, plus vinegar and lemon juice make a nice, cleansing bath for copper and brass.

10. Hard Boiled Egg. We’ve all enjoyed the delectable smell of liver of sulfur when we oxidize our metal. Here’s a less odiferous way to achieve the same delicious dark result. Boil up some eggs. Enjoy a few, then place one in a plastic bag with the would-be-oxidized piece. Leave it be for awhile until achieves the gothic color you want. Take out the piece and wash with soap and water. Discard the egg. (That last line was obvious, wasn’t it).

Victoria Tillotson is a New York City based jewelry designer, author and on-air expert whose designs have been featured in Allure, Lucky, Complex and other fashion magazines. She published her first book, Chic Metal: Modern Metal Jewelry to Make at Home in 2009 and has appeared on HSN, Oxygen and other cable channels. Victoria teaches jewelry making at School of Visual Arts in New York, where every semester she gives dozens of aspiring jewelers the tools and confidence to bring their creative vision to life.  Website: www.victoriatillotson.com

Who doesn’t love a pretty, sparkly gemstone? I sure do! But what if a gem can be so much more than a beautiful bauble? According to Andrea Rosenfeld, a New Jersey-based jewelry designer, Reiki practitioner and all-around cool multi-media artist, gemstones can do more than just dress up an outfit: they can heal.

Now, I’m as hippie-dippie lovey-dovey as I can be in our cynical postmodern age, but this one was new to me. So I had to talk personally with Andrea and find out how gemstones do double-duty as nurturing objects…and see some of them in action in ... Read More »]]>

Who doesn’t love a pretty, sparkly gemstone? I sure do! But what if a gem can be so much more than a beautiful bauble? According to Andrea Rosenfeld, a New Jersey-based jewelry designer, Reiki practitioner and all-around cool multi-media artist, gemstones can do more than just dress up an outfit: they can heal.

Now, I’m as hippie-dippie lovey-dovey as I can be in our cynical postmodern age, but this one was new to me. So I had to talk personally with Andrea and find out how gemstones do double-duty as nurturing objects…and see some of them in action in her pieces.

Extrusion Exotic Wood Pendant

VT: Give us a little background about yourself, your jewelry, and how your Reiki practice and knowledge of healing gemstones comes into that.

AR: I’m a professional artist and started in jewelry when my paintings and their mess got too large for my home filled with growing children. With jewelry, I can work with texture, color, composition and such but in a smaller area. Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by “laying on hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. Reiki came into my life when a friend’s sister found out she had leukemia. She asked for one of my necklaces but I felt that I had to help her in a greater way.  I researched healing stones and how to cleanse them. I became a Reiki practitioner after I decided that the standard method of cleansing stones was fine but, again, not enough for what I wanted to offer through my art.

VT: Tell us more about cleansing stones.

AR: There are quite a few ways to cleanse a crystal. The easiest way is to place it under moonlight or sun light for hours. Another way is run fresh water over it or let it soak, but some minerals don’t respond well to water and it can harm their structure. There are dried herbs that can be burned and their fragrant smoke can clear the stone, too.

Blue Beat Pendant

VT: Now for some popular gemstones. What are their healing properties?

AR: All minerals and crystals have healing properties specific to them and they encompass physical as well as emotional healing.  Stones are attached to numerology as well as astrology.  Some stones are very powerful – Quartz is the most powerful mineral but if a stone can heal a specific ailment then at that particular time, that crystal is the most helpful and therefore powerful to the one being healed.  There are no “bad” stones and some are specific for getting through chemotherapy, some are helpful in easing back pain or labor.  Some can help you to see more clearly, creatively while others can bring more money into your life.

Here are the basics for the most popular stones:

Amethyst – “Stone of meditation.” It controls temperament by imparting a soothing, calming and tranquilizing influence, while clearing away unproductive and unkind vibrations.

Peridot – Emits a warm and friendly energy.  It can also help heal a “bruised” ego by assisting one in the lessening of anger or jealousy, inspiring happiness within the self and delight in the nature of one’s life.

Citrine – It is one of the two stones on the planet that do not hold and accumulate negative energy, but dissipates and transmutes it, working out problems on both the physical and subtle levels.  It never needs cleaning or clearing. Helps to “laugh without restraint.” Influences education, business pursuits, and interpersonal relationships.

Garnet – A stone of health, extracting negative energy from the chakras and transmuting the energy to the beneficial state. “Stone of Commitment” – to purpose, to others and to oneself.

Turquoise – Protects against environmental pollutants, offers soothing energy and peace of mind.  Includes wisdom and understanding and enhances trust.

Onyx – It can be used to banish grief, to enhance self-control and to stimulate the power of wise decision-making and to encourage happiness and good fortune.

Harvest Kinetic Ring

VT: Given all these wonderful options, how do you decide what gemstones to use in a piece of jewelry that has multiple stones?

AR: I’m an artist first, healer second, so I work as all other creatives do, by receiving stimulation and passion towards a material.  So a stone will move me and I’ll create around it.  While I’m doing so, the surrounding and supporting stones are typically chosen by coloring or size.  It’s not until I’m healing the piece and writing up the healing card do I see how the stones work together.  As I said, there are no bad stones so I have never had an issue of one stone “fighting” another.   I also do not create for a specific ailment unless I’m working on a special order.  At that time, we discuss the medical issues and I find stones to help my client.  We choose which ones would work best and I use those minerals in a special design.

And the winner is... Pendant

VT: And how can your lucky clients harness these powers?

AR: Be open to the healing energy of the minerals and crystals, meditate on the type of goodness they bring.  Or you can do nothing. The stones will provide their healing powers even if you don’t focus on them but obviously if you do, the connection will be stronger.

For more information about Andrea and her unique approach to jewelry, visit www.andrea-rosenfeld.com.

Victoria Tillotson is a New York City based jewelry designer, author and on-air expert whose designs have been featured in Allure, Lucky, Complex and other fashion magazines. She published her first book, Chic Metal: Modern Metal Jewelry to Make at Home in 2009 and has appeared on HSN, Oxygen and other cable channels. Victoria teaches jewelry making at School of Visual Arts in New York, where every semester she gives dozens of aspiring jewelers the tools and confidence to bring their creative vision to life.  Website: www.victoriatillotson.com