My friend Stef alerted me to this post by Watchismo with pictures of an elaborate skull watch that was made for Mary Queen of Scots in the 16th century. You must take a look! The site also has great pictures of an 1810 skull pocket watch and a 1610 skull clock. Stef lives in Los…
Jewelry
Thursday Book Club: Anne of Cleves
I am going to prove to you that Anne of Cleves was a damn genius. Anne was the fourth wife of Henry VIII, or Henry teh 8, as we’ve come to know him. Did you know that in the ’60s, the English group Herman’s Hermits had a hit song called, “I’m Henry the 8th, I…
The Old In-Out In-Out*
Juana Peekaboo Skull Ring © Wendy Brandes 2007-2008 Photo by John Muggenborg Imagine my delight when a magazine called L.A. Confidential used my Juana ring to illustrate that skulls were a “Do” in their Late Spring issue. Imagine my annoyance when they credited the photographer for the photo and not me for the ring! Now…
Eat It, Huckers!
If you’re looking for thinspiration, skip this post. My gorgeous client Tina is the co-author of The Ski House Cookbook, which, as the cover cutely explains, is a collection of “Warm Winter Dishes for Cold Weather Fun.” Even cuter: each recipe has a difficulty rating just like ski runs do. Beware of the black diamond-rated…
Wise Move?
After thinking about it for a while, I broke down and ordered this little owl face made of rock crystal and onyx. I’m going to make a necklace out of him. Crystal owl face While I was still wondering whether this was a wise investment, teh Interweb offered me some positive reinforcement. These were the…
I’m Working on It
Just to prove that the long-promised rebranding of my company is really happening, I thought I’d share my new logo. I’m wondering what color my new packaging should be. Here are the choices for background color for my suede boxes. Any thoughts? My Gigi Caron packaging has been a gold logo on a burgundy box….
All the News That’s Fit to Print
The New York Times has a nice story on my husband’s new project. Here are two paragraphs from the story. Paul E. Steiger, who was the top editor of The Wall Street Journal for 16 years, and a pair of wealthy Californians are assembling a group of investigative journalists who will give away their work…
No Book Club Due to Important Birthday
Thursday Book Club is suspended today so that I can celebrate my gorgeous mother’s birthday. If you’d like to take advantage of your time off to catch up with your reading, click here. In honor of the beauteousness that is BarbaraB, my mother, I present a photo post. (The pictures don’t enlarge, so don’t click…
What Inspires Me
Take one cartoon character. Wilma Flintstone, courtesy of Hanna-Barbera Add white agate, gold and a dash of diamonds. Get one necklace. Wilma necklace in white agate, 18K rose gold and diamondsWilma necklace © Wendy Brandes 2007-2008 (Photo by John Muggenborg) Except it didn’t happen that way. In reality, I created a 19 millimeter gold ball…
Sale on 14K Gold! Plus Coco!
I am in the mood to clean house . Rejoice, the cleaning mood comes but rarely. Ask my husband. Anyway, I have a few moderately priced 14K pieces that I did not design but did, of course, pick out personally to tempt my gorgeous clients. I only have one left of all of each of…