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.

?Encantada?

I recently shared the experience of moving and leaving behind a home that I loved.  My family is staying with my in-laws for the summer while we wait for our house to sell, (another post entirely, it's a horrible time to sell!) and get a start on establishing ourselves in the new venture we have embarked upon.  Anyway, living with my in-laws has been really wonderful, actually, and I am so grateful that I can say that! They are absolutely fantastic people, incredibly generous and hospitable. This post however, is not about them, or our new home, but our newest neighbors:

Yep. Baby skunks! Startling to come upon, but they are damn CUTE!  And so tiny!  They are out at any time of day, so we have to be alert - for instance I went out for a run this morning and walked through the yard with my ipod on, completely oblivious, when I caught a little movement out of the corner of my eye.. I was 3 feet away from one of the little guys munching on the lilies!  We've heard they wander off to find a home of their own after they grow a little, so for now, we will have to pay attention and give them their space. And for me enjoy seeing them from afar!

Happy 4th of July!

I love to celebrate.. almost anything!  I have made it a point in my family to celebrate events and milestones. Most of my celebrating includes good food, which is probably why I love festivities.  

Give me a reason and I will create a feast.  While I can't feast with you, we can celebrate with a special discount in honor of my great home - the U.S.A.!  So whether you are celebrating the 4th of July or not, I'm offering 20% off these RED Titanium Glo Earrings until Monday July 5, 2010.  It's a hot deal.

 Since we've recently moved back to the area my husband and I grew up in, we've been invited to a BBQ with some of his old high school friends.  It should be an interesting reunion - I've never met any of them!  In any case, there will be fireworks on the water tonight, so however the BBQ goes, there will definitely be a good end to the evening =) So off I go to celebrate with some new people - Happy 4th of July!

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.

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.

Every goodbye makes the next hello closer.

I have been busy packing and getting ready for a move over the past few weeks.  I hope you'll afford me a little sentimentality here.  My husband and I have taken a big leap into a new adventure and we are leaving our nice, comfy little nest behind!  It has been an emotional week with the full realization of what we are doing settling on me.  There is a lot more to it than packing up a house and moving somewhere new.  We are forging ahead into the unknown.  It's exciting, exillerating, and nerve wracking and scary.

I have moved a lot. A LOT. I wasn't a military kid, but we moved like a military family when I was a kid.  I counted 13 moves growing up, and we joke with my parents that the tradition lives on, they've moved at least 7 times since I left home!  There have been 6 moves for my husband and I.  This one is different because this was our first "home", the first one we bought and made our own.

We poured our whole first summer here into renovating a mess of a foreclosed piece of property.  It was a lot of work, and completely rewarding.  We didn't have a kitchen for the first month.  We cooked on a grill, washed dishes in the bathtub, and got water from our fabulous neighbors!  Here's part of what that work earned us:

It was worth it in the end.  I cooked and baked food linked to many amazing memories here.

My son has spent his first five years here.  He learned to "truly" crawl on these floors (quotations because before that he had only mastered some weird army crawl that didn't get full credit!) followed by his first steps.

These walls hold so many precious memories that will come along with us.  Still, we will miss this place. We cherish many good times spent with friends and family in this space.  It has been our haven, and we have fully treasured living here.  So many times we have settled down in the living room to relax and said "I love this house, it feels like a vacation home" as we look into the backyard at the beautiful green "lollipop tree" contrasting against the bright blue sky (well, sometimes contrasting against bright blue, probably more often against grey clouds here!).

I'll miss my humble little jewelry design studio as well.  A cozy little nook that harbored hours of artistry and creativity. This is where Variya jewelry started:

All good memories.  All good times.  It feels positive to reflect.  I'm looking forward to the future.

To Have and to Hold

I. love. weddings.  I love what weddings represent, I love the beauty all around, I love the tradition (which would probably shock you if you know me..) I love the details, I love everything about them (except the stress, if it's mine, of course).  Imagine then, my joy when I get to design and create the jewelry for a wedding!  That has been just as enjoyable (and a little stressful if I'm honest).  It has been a wonderful experience over the last few months creating jewelry for a few gorgeous and all completely different weddings, and I want to share them with you here.

The most recent was the Goetz-Mutchler wedding on Long Island (who also had some absolutely fabulous photography by Rob Davidson Photography)

I have to share the wedding party shot because first - great photography, second - look at those incredible colors (I completely fell in love with the purples!), third - what a beautiful bridal party, and fourth - it's my blog and I can do what I want.. =)  ..including the use of smilies and emoticons.  But seriously, this was a special work for me for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I have a special connection to the bride whom I have known since she was in eighth grade so I was very happy she asked me to do her jewelry.  Second, count how many bridesmaids are in that picture.. okay never mind I'll tell you - SEVEN!  These were seven of Lisa's closest friends and she wanted a special unique gift for each one, so I did seven unique pieces (which also was very fun for me).  And finally, I was invited to the wedding, so I was able to see the jewelry on the beautiful ladies I made it for, in the setting I designed it for, which was really fun!  Here are a few of the pieces:

Passion Bracelet in Sterling Silver, Semi-precious Stone, Crystal and Vintage Glass

Sterling Silver custom tags

Passion Necklace in Sterling Silver, Semi-precious Stone, Crystal and Vintage Glass

Passion Earrings in Sterling Silver and Vintage Glass

I loved designing these pieces.  And since I love weddings so much, here is the stunning happy couple:

I planned on sharing more of my recent wedding designs with you in this post, but alas, I am out of time.  As always, this ends up being longer than I planned, you'll have to come back again for more.  In the meantime, if you or someone you know is interested in a custom wedding package from Variya, you can contact me directly, or place your order at Variya here.  You'll receive 50% off any one item at Variya if you refer a bride and she commissions my work.  So - go tell your friends!