Our Latest Beautiful Bride

Custom wedding design is definitely my favorite part of designing jewelry, and working with Christie was even more fun!  She was excited to try something not so typical, and we came up with the perfect designs to reflect her style and the theme for her wedding day.  She is a Long Island girl and played on the nautical theme, and it is totally her.  I loved that she chose to go with navy blue pearls, which were very dramatic.

Not to mention she is absolutely gorgeous anyway!

Christie's necklace is sterling silver with a navy freshwater pearl cluster, Swarovski crystals, and a teardrop shell pendent, embellished with a long crystal and pearl dangle at the closure in the back.  She wanted pearls and sparkle that were reminiscent of the sea.

She also gifted her bridesmaids with these beautifully simplistic pieces of navy freshwater pearl, Swarovski crystal and silver, which echo her piece.

Each was embellished with crystal and a wire wrapped pearl at the closure.

Christie was stunning, and I think this shot shows what a fun couple they are!  The excellent wedding photography was done by Johannah Lech.  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!

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!

The Story of Life

This past mother's day was especially significant for two special people in my life.  My mom lost her mother five years ago, and her father this past year.  My mother in law lost her father a few years ago, and her mother this past year.  In light of these difficult milestones in life, I wanted to acknowledge their parents and family in a memorable way.  I would share photos of these two lovely ladies here, but I think they might not appreciate it for two reason - 1. my mom HATES her photo taken, so i'm sure she would much more hate me posting it here, 2. I've finally moved and am in transition on my husband's laptop and I don't want to take time to plug in more cords and search around for them!  So imagine 2 beautiful, exceptionally loving women here.

I have to also give my husband credit for these gifts I'm about to explain because he sparked the project when he asked me to make something for his mom for mother's day this year (not too long before the special day, I must add!).  I thought that would be a fabulous idea, his mom loves jewelry and is one of my biggest supporters =) We both knew that it must be especially hard to go through the celebration ahead without your parents.  That thought got me thinking about family and how I could commemorate ours in a significant way.  I came up with The Life Story Bracelet.

I did this one is sterling silver and pearls for my mother in law..

and this one in gold for my mom.  Each one is unique, of course, as each of our families are unique.  They consist of one strand of pearls beginning with the birthstone of their parents, followed by pearls representing each sibling in their family (I used my grandmother's vintage pearls here in my mom's bracelet, making it all the more special).  A second strand begins with their wedding anniversary stone followed by the birthstones of the families they began together.  My mother in law is Italian with a strong connection to her heritage, so I added a charm of the colors of the Italian flag in czech glass to hers.

They both loved them =)  My mom's arrived on Monday after mother's day while I was out of town and I came home to the sweetest teary message, the actual words of which I couldn't really decipher, but I understood the meaning!  I love to give meaningful gifts, and these were very rewarding.

I actually liked the idea of having such a meaningful piece, but I'm not a fan of the super sparkly style, so I created another option for people like me with a little edgier fashion sense.. hey I'm a mom too!  Here is that result:

I added a little dangle of my grandparents' birthstones combined with a vintage bead from my grandmother.  i used labradorite (one of my fave stones), dark freshwater pearls, oxidized sterling silver, semi precious stone and opaque glass.  My birthstone is April, however, so I stuck with a little sparkle their since the birthstone is diamond.

If you would like a Life Story Bracelet to give as a special gift, or to have for you very own, celebrating your family story and history please click here, or contact me directly.