Mother's Day Event

I am so excited to announce that I will be participating in a Mother's Day Event at Anthropologie's King of Prussia store tomorrow, May 13th!  I'll be custom making my intial birthstone necklaces on the spot!  If you are local or in the area, stop by and shop for your mama (or yourself!).

for May babies

Happy birthday May babies!  The green, lush qualities of spring are certainly represented by your birthstone, emerald.  These modern emerald earrings are very wearable with a hint of drama in the length.  I love the pin connection on these bezel set emeralds, the hand wrought look of the gold-filled wire connections, and the rich color and inclusions in these marquise shaped emeralds.

kickstart to April

A few exciting things have kick started my April.  I was searching to add a turquoise ring to my collection (how I didn't already have one was beyond my comprehension) when I stumbled upon this absolutely lovely Art Nouveau ring.  I found a lot of turquoise rings I loved but I just could not get this one out of my head!  The price was right, the turquoise color is stunning, and the classic Art Nouveau lines are perfection!

I also added a new bracelet to my arsenal: the Reverie bracelet (featured with other Villette bracelets: leather wrap bracelet, ombre aqua bracelet and my Resolution bracelet with garnet and gold filled beads).  The word Hope is hand stamped on brass and threaded on silk bead cord.  Now available for wholesale orders.

Speaking of wholesale orders, I am currently working with a new store opening up in NJ that hopes to carry Villette Jewelry.  More on this to come!

And if you can believe it, my daughter is turning 5 years old in a week!  April is shaping up to be a pretty exciting month!

for April babies

Happy birthday April babies!!!!  Your birthstone is just incredible!  One could get lost in the sea of diamond jewelry available, so it was a hard choice to narrow down for this month's post.  But one of my favorite combos is diamond slices paired with faceted diamond accents... the best of both worlds!  These drop earrings are a beautiful example.

Outfit those drops with a pair of diamond slice ear crawlers and your earring game is a whole other level!

for March babies

Happy birthday March babies!  Let's all take a moment to collectively sigh over these AMAZING aquamarine earrings by Annoushka!  Not only are these aquamarines absolutely stunning, pairing them with apatite and blue tourmaline creates the perfect trifecta of beautiful blues.  The pave diamonds set this to a whole other level of glamorous-ness that I can only dream of one day achieving.  The price tag definitely reflects the quality of stones and materials, but it's fun to dream a little dream and admire this truly outrageous masterpiece of jewelry design.

for February babies

Happy birthday February babies!!!  Some might think that amethyst is such a blasé stone but these incredible Plukka amethyst earrings beg to differ!  The champagne diamond pavé drop is the perfect compliment to the outrageous purple hue and so-right irregular shape of these amethysts.

your month

Now that the holidays are over and the gifts have been given, I can show a few of the things I made this season.  My Initial Birthstone necklaces (top photo) for my daughter and nieces (ages 4 and 6) were a big hit.  They feature a hand stamped initial on a sterling silver disc that is oxidized with a brushed matte finish and tiny briolette birthstone strung on silk bead cord (in their favorite color) with a sterling silver clasp and extender chain (not shown).  The silk bead cord and dainty briolette make these perfectly age appropriate for the little ones and the extender chain allows their necklace to grow with them.

My Mama & Co. necklace (bottom photo) for my cousin Sarah, who is expecting, is one of my favorite gifts to give at baby showers (because mama deserves a gift too!) and features wire wrapped birthstones for mama and baby on a simple cable chain.  Also featured in this photo is my Just Because tags in my gift boxes.  This is something I designed when I first created my packaging when I started my business and I still use them to this day!

for January babies

Happy birthday January babies!  My best friend falls into this category and she has received some seriously nice garnet jewelry over the years.  The deep red of garnets pairs beautifully with a rich higher karat gold.  These stunning Cathy Waterman earrings feature domed garnets set in 22k gold.  I absolutely love the matte gold wheat leaf design... earthy and sophisticated.

charming

Finally got around to putting this charm necklace together.  I took the chain from another long necklace I don't really wear anymore, and adapted it slightly to allow additional charms in the future.  Not only do I love the sentimentality of this necklace but also the fact that I am wearing pendants again that were no longer getting a lot of wear.  From left to right: water casting techinique that solidified my true love for metalsmithing, clear crystal to represent my daughter's birth month, cut out coin my father made, a moon I wore all the time when I was younger, a skeleton key which was one of the main elements in one of my most popular necklace designs, and a blue topaz which I gifted to all the important females in my life prior to my wedding.  Already considering adding more, like the black pearl I picked up on my Hawaiian honeymoon (although I am slightly concerned about damage to the pearl against the other metal charms). So excited to wear this piece today and for many days to come!

holiday etsy wishlist 2016

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!! I am so incredibly excited for this holiday season.  My family is coming in from CA and it will be the first time we have all been together in 4 years.  This year I've been trying really hard to cut back on my shopping, so my wishlist is relatively long this year.  And as always, jewelry is the top contender on my list.  So once again, here is my annual holiday etsy wishlist:
1) Antique yellow gold engraved band-  This has been on my wishlist for awhile now, but I think I have finally found the perfect one!
2) Vintage large oval marcasite ring- In my dreams, I have been pining for a large diamond cluster ring but this is my reality option.
3) Art Deco marquise banded agate yellow gold ring- The key to this ring is the extreme marquise shape and the lily setting on the sides of the stone.  I've looked for this setting with other stones, but the banded agate seems to be the most readily available option out there.
4) Small flat yellow gold hoops- I desperately need some good basic yellow gold earrings and I pretty much wear hoops every day.
5) Flat circle yellow gold studs- Would pair perfectly with other gold earrings and are the kind of studs you could wear for eternity.
6) London blue topaz yellow gold studs- These weren't even something I was looking for but ones I stumbled across while looking for my December birthstone post.  I love this stone, it is such an incredible color, and I love the unique shape of these earrings.

for December babies

Happy birthday December babies!  I know you may have to share your birthday with a whole month of holidays, but at least you have a stunning birthstone to call your own.  Traditionally, blue topaz is a true bright baby blue, but if this were my birthstone (oh, I wish it was!) I would fully embrace the London Blue topaz.  I mean look at the color of these stunning earrings!  And the hexagon cut just puts these over the top.  So beautiful!

gold links

Just a small piece I created for a taste of something new.  I've been going through my old jewelry and started to recycle pieces from ones I no longer wear.  This was made from the chain of another one of my necklaces and gold wire scrap from a few rings I made.  Simple and basic with great layering potential.  Also, I love seeing pictures of other jewelry artist's benches and equipment and am finding the beauty in my own soldering block.  It's an imprinted history of my studio work.

for November babies

Happy belated (second month in a row!) birthday to all November babies!  Things have been less than cheerful the last week or so, and it's been hard to focus on much else.  But jewelry can always cheer a girl up (at least definitely this girl!).  And who doesn't love a good Melissa Joy Manning piece?!  These stunning earrings, featuring rough cut citrine set in two simple gold bands, keeps all the focus on these beautiful stones.  The rough cut of the stones along with one of the most prominent characteristics of MJM's design aesthetic is all about capturing the one of a kind look.

for October babies

Happy birthday October babies!  Sorry if I am a little belated.  I've been doing these birthstone posts for two years now and I have no intention of stopping!  I am going to shift gears a little this year and not only focus on earrings but modern design.  (I feel like I have been giving antique jewelry an overwhelming share of the attention!)

October babies have the pleasure of having pink tourmaline as their birthstone.  The varying colors and shades of tourmaline are unmatched.  And these pink tourmaline slice earrings by Pamela Dale are a stunning example of tourmaline's wonderful shade of pink!  I have long been a fan of gemstone and diamond slices and their organic nature.  The addition of rose cut and brilliant cut diamonds and peach gold drips is just the icing on the cake!

engagement ring love

When this popped up in my Pinterest feed, I think I literally gasped out loud!  I know absolutely nothing about this ring (my Google search turned up nothing) but it looks like Art Deco or a very well done Art Deco replica.  I love it paired with the simple gold band.  What a stunning pair!  Today is actually my 8th wedding anniversary and as I was fondly admiring my own engagement ring, I realized how much I still whole heartedly love it.  Back story: I actually picked out my own engagement ring from a small antique store online, but my husband duped me into thinking he couldn't afford a ring anytime soon.  The ring sold (yes, I stalked it online) right around Valentine's Day and I was heartbroken that someone else was walking around wearing MY engagement ring.  Two months later, my husband asked me to be his wife with THE ring!  I am still incredibly happy with the choice, and wouldn't change it for the world, even though my jewelry tastes have changed, developed and evolved over those years.  I hope that all the ladies out there have such happiness with their own rings (and partners!).

a sprinkling of newness

I have quite a few lingering projects hanging out in my studio, all planned out and supplies sourced, but I finally got the time to execute some of them last night.  I've been obsessing over oxidized silver and yellow gold for some time now but had the epiphany that this combo I love could also be created with black stones and gold.  Henceforth the onyx bracelet and thread earrings were born!  I've also been craving a pop of blue with my necklaces and whipped up this small wire wrapped blue topaz.  Perfect for layering!

for September babies

September is the hardest month to narrow down a birthstone selection (my love of sapphires runs deep!).  Throughout my various different searches this beauty kept popping up.  Nothing over-the-top extravagant but still stunning and incredibly wearable.  The filigree is just beautiful on this shield pendant, the pear shaped sapphire is picture perfect and the twinkling diamond accent at the top is just the icing on the cake!  Happy birthday September babies!

for August babies

Happy birthday August babies!  The birthstone for this month, Peridot, has a signature color that is easy to spot.  (I actually think it was one of the first gemstones I was able to identify when I was very young, also being my brother's birthstone.)  The peridot on this Art Nouveau beauty is the quintessential perfect shade of vivid chartreuse.  The emerald cut lends beautiful depth to this light colored gemstone.  And the swirls of gold and tiny diamonds compliment this stone nicely.  Such an enchanting piece!

birthday wishlist

So it's almost my birthday.  Last night, while putting my daughter to bed, I asked her what we should do for mommy's birthday.  She replied, "give you presents, like jewelry.  Like rings... and necklaces."  I started laughing seeing as how my 4 year old daughter knows this so assuredly about her mama.  She asked, "why are you laughing mommy? You like that stuff!"  And with a chuckle I said, "I do baby, I really do."  So here it is, my annual etsy jewelry wishlist... filled with rings and necklaces:
1) Antique patterned yellow gold band- I am still looking for juuuuuuuust the right one, but this one is lovely and at an exceptional pricepoint.
2) Diamond baguette eternity band- This one is lovely and thin and perfect for stacking!
3) North Star necklace- I am really quite obsessed with North Star or starburst designs right now.  I love the pairing of this North Star necklace with the side set moon.
4) Antique Starburst ring- I love, love, love this ring!  Tiny diamond set in a starburst and a scrolling pattern on the sides.  Absolutely exquisite!

for July babies

Happy birthday July babies (and happy birthday to me)!  Anyone who regularly reads this blog of mine knows I'm not the biggest fan of my birthstone, Ruby.  But over the last few years, I have started to grow fonder of this stone, especially in antique yellow gold pieces.  I absolutely adore this ruby pendant.  I love the double bail, the lily and scroll details, and how the princess cut ruby is positioned.  All in all a piece I would definitely wear to represent my birth month!