An Elegant Affair

What comes to mind when you think of elegance?  A Google image search brings up pictures of black, white, and red figures that all share themes of simplicity and beauty.  One of our recent brides Melissa wanted her jewelry to be ‘elegant’, and we were able to achieve that with the pieces we made for her wedding!

For her earrings we used sterling silver and clear Swarovski crystals that accented the necklace and headpiece that Melissa had already picked out.

For her bridesmaids necklaces we used Swarovski pearls and crystals to create sophisticated necklaces that matched the red of the bridesmaids dresses. 

Melissa was a joy to work with and I’m so happy I was able to help make her day a bit more elegant!

Click here for more samples of our custom design work, and here to contact us for more information.  We'd love to work with you on your perfect custom wedding jewelry!

Sweet & Sassy

When Riki told me she was using fuschia and lime green for her wedding colors I couldn't wait to work with her!  She wanted her wedding to reflect her spunky personality and we were excited to take the challenge.  She loves to wear big and bold jewelry, so creating her earrings was especially fun.  She was absolutely fabulous to work with and we came up with designs she felt were "amazing".

 Riki's bold earrings were the perfect accent to her beautiful dress!

Swarovski crystal and sterling silver with lots of length and lots of sparkle!  The edgy swirl and shimmering crystals echo the elements of her dress.  She wanted to spice them a up a little too with some pink crystals sprinkled in.

Fuschia for the bridesmaids is definitely a sassy stunning hue!

 

Fuschia Swarovski crystals with sterling silver add a pop of perfect color to the bridesmaid's ensemble.

We were so happy to adorn her and her wedding party for a perfect day!

 The excellent wedding photography was done by Edges Photography.  Click here for more samples of our custom design work, and here to contact us for more information.  We'd love to work with you on your perfect custom wedding jewelry!

A Princess Bride

Tammy is a beautiful bride who wanted romance reflected in her designed pieces.  Her wedding had a subtle forest theme with gorgeous pinks and browns.  So Beautiful!

As I said - Romance!

We did Tammy's pieces as well as earrings for her bridesmaids.

 

The Bridal set is a floating Swarovski crystal briolette necklace with complimentary earrings.  The earring design hints at that subtle forest theme bringing to mind twigs and dew drops and wild flowers. They are pink Cubic Zirconia (extra sparkly!) sprinkled with AB Swarovski crystal and brown and cream freshwater pearls finished with antique bronze accents.  

The Bridemaid's pieces are a simpler version of the bride's with pink Cubic Zirconia, brown freshwater pearls and antique bronze accents.

I think romance was achieved!

Tammy said she felt like a princess, and I think she looks like on too!  She was such a pleasure to work with, I'm so happy her day was exactly what she'd dreamt of.  The excellent wedding photography was done by Mangwood Photography.  Click here for more samples of our custom design work, and here to contact us for more information.  We'd love to work with you on you're perfect custom wedding jewelry!

Au Courant

Check out the latest at Variya.  Get them while they're HOT!

 

                                  Persian Princess Necklace

                                Niobium Vintner's Reserve Earrings

                                Persuading Destiny Titanium Earrings

If You're Ever In Skaneateles

I'm happy to announce that Variya will now be available at Imagine in Skaneateles, NY.

 A little bit about this fine store:
"At Imagine we pride ourselves on our distinctive collection of fine and handcrafted jewelry, watches and timepieces, blown glass, stained glass, jewelry boxes, and kaleidoscopes, as well as a variety of other unique gifts. We carry work by artisans, both local and from around the world. Our collection ranges from cute beaded earrings to intricately designed precious gemstone rings; from simple glass marbles to one of a kind blown glass vases. Our goal is to provide a range of items appealing to a variety of visitors."
We're honored to be included among such incredible work.  Be sure to stop by if you're ever in the beautiful town of Skaneateles - it's definitely worth a visit!

CLASSY!

I found this sweet blog on Twitter, and they did a review on a pair of my Niobium earrings.  Check out Two Classy Chics and enter the giveaway for a chance to win a $15 gift certificate to Variya!

Multiplicity.. If Only..

Let me tell you something - right now I am doing about three other things while simultaneously writing this... I'm sure you can identify, right?!  I feel the need to update here while in the midst of so many other things, so I'm making it short and visual.  I have had an awesome month with good sales, great new prospects, and nice encouragement in the jewelry design arena.  I also have to mention on a personal note - my son started kindergarten in the past week as well!  Quite a milestone.  We've spent almost every day for the past 6 years together.  He prepared for school by deciding he was too grown up to call me 'Mama' and switched to "Mom".  It was funny to hear him practice, and he asked his Dad if it was okay first =)  He still slips a lot and I relish "Mama" when he does!  I didn't expect to be emotional when he left for the first day, but I sure was!  I am really excited for him despite my small sense of sadness for the end of a season in our lives.  He loves school, and everything that has come with it so far. And I am so proud of my little boy.

So here's a new piece for your viewing pleasure while I move on to concentrate on the other twelve things I have to get done before I make my son's lunch, hang out with my man and finally sleep.  This piece is not in my shop, or anywhere yet, and it's very limited, so contact me if you'd like one of you're own... one is already spoken for!

Let's See How Far We've Come

The Matchbox 20 song "How Far We've Come" has been a bit of a theme for my summer this year.  I started running (but I'm NOT a runner), and training with a goal to do a 5k at the end of August  This is a song on my ipod that gets me through when I'm ready to quit.  IF I run it, I will run the whole thing - no walking =) I haven't signed up yet though..

 I've been married eleven years to my high school sweetheart, we've embarked on a new adventure and we have a long beautiful history together.  Many times this summer we have looked backed to see how far we've come as we press into what is next for us...

My son turned SIX! and is going to kindergarten in the fall it's been an incredible journey so far..

.. no, we did not have a birthday pizza. it was the hot wheels birthday party he asked for all year with pumpkin spice cake and cream cheese frosting  =) ..

I've logged one year selling my designs on Etsy, and sales have been more than I ever expected when I began this little venture!  We have also been welcomed to sell in a few central New York shops, which is definitely something I never had imagined!

New Designs by Variya

I've been planning these lovelies for a little while, and I'm so excited to finally share them with you!  Gold and Silver Salacia earrings, with gold Niobium and silver Titanium options.  Pure bliss.  These were inspired by Poseidon the god of the sea from Greek mythology and named for his wife - Salacia (Amphitrite in the Greek).  A fair amount of my design inspiration comes from the glorious stories in Greek mythology.  I have always loved the adventure, tragedy, and romance this rich literature has to offer.  I began reading it in high school, and continue today, some stories are new to me, others I read again and again.  The gorgeous pearls began the sea motif for these pieces, and the draped chain reminds me of a goddess emerging from the sea.  The white pearls with gold and silver each compliment so beautifully, and are incredibly luxurious!

 

Gold Salacia - Niobium Pearl Earrings

 

Silver Salacia - Titanium Pearl Earrings

For you my dear blog following friends I'd like to offer a special discount* of 15% off until the end of July 2010.   To take advantage of this discount you must be a follower of this blog and note "variyablog" in the notes to seller at checkout.  Hurry and take advantage of this fabulous offer!

Now as an extra bonus in this post here is a sneak peek at another new set available soon at Variya.. stay tuned! 

 

* special discount: 15%  reimbursed via paypal at payment to blog followers with "variyablog" in notes to seller and applies only to Gold and Silver Salacia earrings until midnight July 31, 2010.  Not valid with any other offers or promotions or for any other products.

Spontaneous

I wasn't planning to post this week, but I'm feeling spontaneous and I have a few minutes right now, so - why not? .. well I could probably come up with quite a few why nots, like I should probably go for a run, prep dinner, pay some bills... but I'll make this quick =)  I was just over at MamaBuzz a super site with so many great  resources, fun articles, AND GIVEAWAYS!  Who doesn't love them?  I've actually won a couple online this year, so I'm less of a skeptic towards them than I used to be.  I'm doing a Variya giveaway with MamaBuzz for a $25 gift certificate (so I better have left my skepticism behind!).

I felt compelled to post because I was reading through the entry comments and wanted to say WELCOME! to my new MamaBuzz followers.  I was encouraged by the comments posted there, and some here too, so thanks to you all!

If you haven't entered the giveaway at MamaBuzz click here.  * Update - giveaway has concluded - check back here soon - I'll be doing one here!

And now, as a bonus to go along with the spontaneity of this post, here's what I'm listening to while I write and I can't get enough of right now: Train. It came up on my Pandora station which you should also check out if you love (or even like) music.  You can make your own radio station which plays only music that you like - for FREE! It's ace, check it out, it might make your day even better.  Okay..on to things I should get done.

Hot New Titanium Stud Posts in Vibrant Colors

Titanium Glo Earrings - Magenta Titanium Titanium Posts

If you have sensitive ears or metal allergies like I do, you probably know how difficult it is to find cool titanium stud or post earrings, and then find them to be affordable. I have been working out this design for quite a while now. A chic titanium post option in some very cool colors, hand-crafted and unique!

Titanium Glo Earrings - Purple Titanium Posts


These sweet titanium studs are currently available in glowing shades of magenta, purple and blue, with more to come soon at Variya. I'm offering discounts on multiple orders. Check them out and collect them all!

Titanium Glo Earrings - Blue Titanium Posts

The Latest Titanium Earring Design at Variya

Affection Titanium Earrings

These titanium earrings are the definition of gorgeous! A myriad of swarovski crystal in shades of blue sparkle below a handmade oxidized sterling silver frame radiating with edgy class, swinging from simple titanium french hooks. Perfect whether you have metal allergies or not!

Please contact me if you'd like to have this beautiful design done in another color.

Style AND health! Have you had trouble wearing earrings due to metal allergies? Titanium might be your answer! All earrings from the Titanium Collection at Variya are made with certified ASTM-F67 surgical implant grade one pure titanium ear wires. Any part that touches your ear is pure titanium which is known to be a non allergy metal.

"I'm not only the president, I'm also a client!" - I have not been able to wear earrings due to metal allergies for the past 8 years, but truly pure titanium has allowed me to wear them again, with no reactions!