Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. There’s too much food and football, and a dearth of costumes, confetti and candy dioramas. I was happy to shake things up by going to a restaurant instead of having dinner at home. So happy, in fact, that I celebrated by wearing something other than my jeans-and-t-shirt uniform. What…
Custom work
Terri Berry’s Custom-Made Birthday Earrings
Remember August’s Jewel of the Month? It was a custom ring I made for my gorgeous sister Terri Berry by redesigning her old jewelry. My brother-in-law gave the new ring to Terri for her birthday on August 14. Well, it took me a little while, but I made matching earrings as a belated birthday gift…
Jewel of the Month: Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright
My gorgeous client Christine has an affinity for tigers. It started in childhood, when the sight of a tiger in a zoo brought her to tears. She says: “I first saw a tiger in a typical 1960s zoo, when zoo meant a line of small cages. I can still clearly see the brown bear in…
New Rings Galore: Daisies, Skulls and Punctuation
I designed my 18K gold and diamond Mia scent locket in 2006. A scent locket isn’t a new concept. (It’s designed so the wearer can put solid perfume in the locket; the openings in the locket allow the fragrance to waft out.) It’s easy to find vintage scent lockets as well as modern-day costume-jewelry versions….
Jewel of the Month: Tracey’s Custom Engagement Ring
Love at first sight? Nah. When painter/illlustrator Tracey Atkinson first met new-media artist/designer (and my former People.com colleague) Paul Notzold at The Brooklyn Inn in January 2007, romantic lightning didn’t strike. But Paul walked Tracey home in the rain, so she agreed to see him again. Then she gave him a broken umbrella and sent…
Jewel of the Month: Terri Berry’s Birthday Ring
Today is my gorgeous sister Terri Berry‘s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERRI BERRY! Yesterday, TerriB’s husband, Tim Berry, presented her with a custom ring I designed. TerriB was in on the plan. Earlier this year, when gold was at a then-record-high of $1330 an ounce, I started taking the stones out of old jewelry and selling…
Custom Work: Gettin’ Sketchy Wit It
I don’t do sketches of all the designs that I create for my collection. Sometimes I skip the sketch and go directly to the wax model. Other times, I do a very rough sketch to convey a concept. When I was working on my Cleves swan ring, I scribbled something that looked like two deformed…
Jewel of the Month: May Flower, Customized for Christine
In the spirit of “April showers bring May flowers,” the Jewel of the Month is the poppy ring I created for my designing friend Zang Toi’s 2007 spring runway show. I also designed a matching bracelet, choker and giant belt buckle — all in gold-plated silver. With Zang’s approval, I wore the ring myself with…
Jewel of the Month: Heather’s Engagement Ring
I’m sometimes surprised by the jewelry designs that take off. When I originally designed my Siobhan perma-stacked stacking ring, I didn’t envision it evolving into an engagement ring. But evolve it did! First, gorgeous blogger Susan of Une femme d’un certain age asked me to redesign her original engagement ring, Siobhan style. I never expected…
Mariel’s Engagement Ring Reminds Me of ABBA
When gorgeous blogger Mariel of Preppy With a Twist asked me to create her engagement ring, I immediately got ABBA’s “Waterloo” stuck in my head. It took me a while to recall that the song was featured in a key scene of the 1994 movie Muriel’s Wedding. In the movie, Toni Collette is shy Muriel…