Etsy Purchase from Shari - luvs2create2

I am so excited to tell you all that my Custom tags from Shari of luvs2create2 on Etsy came in over this weekend. I opened the parcel today early morning as the sun was coming up and it felt like Christmas morning with the gorgeous gift wrapping.

Shari customized all my tags to match the Navy blue velvet boxes that I use for my Bridal orders. Just look at all those tags!! Aren’t they lovely?

Shari also does all kinds of Custom Bridal works, Save the Tags, wedding Favor Tags etc. Please check out her shop Paper and Other Oddities on Etsy.

BRIDAL PORTFOLIO - ELIZABETH

I received these gorgeous pictures from my beautiful bridal customer Elizabeth! Wow! There is a world of difference between making jewelry with pearls and wire and then seeing how someone wears them and brings them to life. I get so excited, and somewhat emotional whenever I get these mails showcasing the jewelry that I made.

(Pictures by http://www.bellapictures.com/)

Elizabeth wanted a pearl and rhinestone Flower Necklace. She liked my double stranded pearl necklaces but wanted a simpler version. I made this single stranded version of my best seller brooch necklace. I used a smaller Cubic Zirconia component that I generally use for my chandelier earrings. I used all Swarovski pale ivory pearls. The CZ component can be worn at the left or the right (as Elizabeth choose to).



She also wanted a matching bracelet and earrings. More pictures of the jewelry can be found here.



Elizabeth also got these chandelier earrings, but choose to go with the plain Swarovski pearl studs to keep with the simpler jewelry.



Wedding pics: Copyright Elizabeth Brown 2010
Taken by: http://www.bellapictures.com/
Jewelry pics: Copyright Som's Studio 2010

BRIDAL PORTFOLIO - JENN

I am so thrilled to have received some professional pictures from my gorgeous bridal customer Jenn! Wow! What a beautiful wedding and what fabulous pictures!


(Pictures used with permission from Danielle Aquiline Photography.)

Jenn wanted a pearl and rhinestone Flower Necklace. She also requested that the pearls used on the side be smaller than the ones I used in the Cubic Zirconia component for a sparkly yet delicate look. I made her necklace using genuine Freshwater pearls, Cubic Zirconia components and solid sterling silver parts. The Cubic Zirconia and pearl component was based off an earlier best selling design, just replaced the central Cubic Zirconia with a genuine freshwater pearl. More pictures of the necklace can be found here.



Keeping with the delicate angle, I included these petite pearl earrings as a thank you gift!


It’s such a great experience making jewelry for brides!
Thank you Jenn!

And the Phoenix Rises from her Ashes

I had put my jewelry store on hold for a while while focusing on my gemstones store. Wow, managing two stores on Etsy is quite a challenge, I absolutely detest switching between my two profiles. I wish there was a single profile to access both shops. Maybe I should jot that down under the Ideas section on the Etsy fora.

I have had quite a bit of success of late under the Alchemy section with some 24 odd Bridal orders so far this season. I offer high quality Boutique style bridal jewelry minus the sky-high prices. Running my own Supplies store helps, because I get purchase the materials on a wholesale basis and in turn pass on those savings to the customer. I remember studying Pricing as one of the four Ps of the marketing mix during my MBA days. In today's economic condition, it has become the primary distinguishing factor for many bridal customers. Young brides-to-be look for balance between good quality and low prices. I am lucky to have found many such customers who entrusted me with jewelry for their special day.

So, I re-vamped my erstwhile jewelry store into a Bridal Boutique geared towards offering exceptionally high quality products at a wholesale price.

I have been experimenting with a lot of rhinestone components too. I think rhinestones add glamor to even the simplest of pieces. Just a touch here...an accent there can transform and update the look dramatically.

My absolute favorite are these stunningly beautiful and exceptionally sparkly Crystal rhinestone component that is securely wire-wrapped to a long silver hair pin. This particular flower has a stacked look with two layers of smaller rhinestones embellished with a large center stone. This flower pin will add sparkle to any hair style, and add glamor to any hair color.

Bridal Customer Raves on TheKnot.com!

I created a set of 6 Bridesmaid's necklace and earrings and one more set for the maid of Honor for bridal client of mine. She was exceptionally knowledgeable about the products and had a clear sense of design. When the client knows exactly what she wants, it is essentially all down-hill from there. :)

The design incorporated Swarovski crystal flat briolettes in Crystal AB color along with Black (Jet) and Crystal AB bicone crystals. The designs were given to me by my customer. I just applied those ideas to metal and crystals.

These are the final jewelry pieces.







Imagine my utter delight when I found out that she has raved about my jewelry on the message board of TheKnot.com! Wow! What an honor! This just made my day!!

Whoo!!

Peridot Necklaces

One of my favorite color combination is Peridot Green with pale pink. So imagine my delight when Felicia approached me with a request to pair Peridot gemstones with Pale Pink Swarovski crystals along with a genuine freshwater pearl. She needed 6 sets for her Bridesmaids and was looking for a simple drop necklace. This is final result and looks so-pretty!!

Rush Bridal order and my very first Rhinestone Brooch

A bride's rush requirement of a Hair pin turned into my first attempt of this rhinestone brooch. I was so delighted to find that this item was also featured on the "Recent custom creations" strip on Alchemy.

I would like to explore these rhinestone components further over the weekend. Lets see where that leads me :)

Charm Bracelets for Bridesmaids

Charm bracelets are a fun way of instantly personalizing a piece of jewelry. Kim's bridesmaids all have different personalities and different aspects of interacting with her. I was given a detail of the hobbies of each person and then used charms suited to each individual.

The vision was to create a mixed-metal feel, sterling silver with brass charms, in addition of genuine Carnelian gemstones and pearls. Vintage inspired flowers and leaves added a shot of color, and accented the bracelet.

The individual charms came from all over the world. The feather came from France! Yes, ETSY is a Global Market. It is marvelous to tap to the resources available online!

AAA Exceptional Pearl Necklace

This is a necklace I have fallen in love with! The single pearl was taken off a AAA grade exceptional pearl strand that I have been saving for my brother's marriage. (Well eventually! :))

The customer required a larger pearl but fell for the quality of the strand and I was able to spare a single pearl to make the necklace that she wanted.

This is the final necklace! The multiple delicate sterling Silver chains contrast the rich luster of the pearl. And the final necklace is surprising light for the looks.

Sneak Peek

Coming Soon.... ;-)